Wrath of a Dead Ninja
by SouthernCookie
Summary: When Hinata and Naruto fail to return from a mission, Sakura and Sai are sent for them, but they didnt expect to find Naruto in a hospital bed and Hinata missing. Where is Hinata? And what is wrong with Naruto and the villagers?
1. Chapter 1: The Finding

Shiki and Naruto anime crossover.

* * *

><p><strong>Characters<strong>

Shiki:  
>Toshio, Natsuno, Seishin, Megumi, Tatsumi, Sunako, Ritsuko, Akira, Kaori, Toruru and Chizuru<p>

Naruto:  
>Hinata, Naruto, Sai, Sakura and Tsunade<p>

* * *

><p>This story is dedicated to my friend Tulli Batty, who introduced me to Shiki.<p>

* * *

><p>"Good you are both here" stated Tsunade without turning away from her office window. She stood with her back to the both of them as she continued to speak.<br>"Now, I have a mission for you both. You are to head North-west from here to a small village called Sotobamura." She turned back to her desk and slumped in her chair, staring to the small team of ninja before her.

"For what purpose?" asked Sai kindly, giving on of him this-will-make-everything-okay smiles.

"I sent Naruto and Hinata there earlier in the week, but they are yet to send word or return, so I have chosen you both to be their back up and to find out what has kept them" she folded her hands beneath her chin.

"Naruto and Hinata? What for?" asked Sakura, trying to hold her voice firm as she spoke. If Sai picked up on a change of tone from her, she would be stuck hearing him try to decipher a meaning from it the whole way to the village.

"The village of Sotobamura has been in chaos. Many villagers have been dying quickly of an unknown cause. Naruto and Hinata were sent to report back on the village's current condition and to help where they could." She leaned back in her chair and let out a tired sigh "But since you two are here, you can see that they have not sent word back to us yet. Therefore your mission is to reach the village, find Naruto and Hinata and return word of the village's current condition"

Sakura and Sai nodded to Tsunade to confirm to her that they were up for the mission.

"Good. You both will leave immediately. Pack your gear" having finished she got out of her seat and returned to watching the village below.

The trip to Sotobamura took two full days for them to travel. They had refused to stop for sleep during the traveling; deciding that reaching the village and finding their fellow ninja was the priority task. They could rest and send word back to their own village afterwards.

It was midday by the time they arrived to the small village. It was a large flat open space surrounded by wood covered hills. Much of the open land was for crops and a fresh water stream ran through the open land.  
>The majority of the houses that the villagers lived in were by the far end of the open land except one house that sat higher up on a hill rise. It was a European styled home that was the size of a mansion and surrounded by a large wall and closed gate, looking very out of place in the small village.<p>

It wasn't long till Sakura and Sai made their way into the main body of the village. The people who lived there sat solemnly to the sides of the roads and stared vacantly into nothingness, caught in their own thoughts.

They continued through the village main roads till they came across a more cheerful looking girl walking a dog.  
>The girl had short brown hair that was tied back into twisted pigtails that flared out at the tips, forming an almost star like shape at the end of each of her pigtails. The girl wore a short skirt with knee high socks and polished shoes and a red hooded jacket that she wore unzipped on top of her plain coloured shirt.<p>

Her and her very unattractive dog came closer as they walked along the street.

"Excuse me" stated Sakura, halting the girls humming so she turned to face Sakura. "Hi my name is Sakura and this is Sai," Sai waved shyly to the girl and flashed a smile as she looked to him "we are from the Leaf village. Have you seen any other ninja from the Leaf village here?"

The girl paused and stared at the two strangers from the Leaf village for a long while before replying.  
>"My name is Kaori" she smiled to them both cheerfully "and our village doesn't have any ninja"<p>

Sakura thought of how to ask her again.  
>"Then have you seen a tall blonde haired boy wearing orange clothing with a dark haired girl?"<p>

Kaori nodded to her, still smiling "I have seen the boy, but he didn't have a girl with him."

"Okay, where did he go?" asked Sakura, trying not to sound impatient.

"He went to the clinic," her voice sounded graver, but she continued to smile "he looked a bit unwell, like the others"

Sai leaned forward slightly, the conversation having peeked his interest.  
>"The others?"<p>

Kaori nodded to him.  
>"Lots of people have been becoming sick here lately. And a lot of them have been dying. So a nurse found him and took him to the clinic" Kaori smiling to them as she thought back to all the people who had died recently, including her closest friend, Megumi.<p>

Sai and Sakura looked to one another.  
>"Can you show us where the clinic is?" asked Sakura<p>

The girl nodded, smiling again.  
>"I can take you there"<p>

* * *

><p>Sai and Sakura hung back behind the girl as she led them with her strangely pale pink dog to the clinic. The clinic sat just outside the main body of the village; a field of crops growing between the village to the clinic.<p>

The clinic was a peaceful looking place. The green roof extended from the building to create a sheltered area that formed a passageway around the building, held up by white posts that matched the faded white building walls. The windows on the top story were open to let in the sunlight, inside a nurse brought food to an elderly woman patient in her room.

Kaori announced that they had arrived to the clinic before she said farewell cheerfully and finished walking her dog back towards the village.

Sai followed Sakura into the building. The main room was white with seats inside for waiting people to sit. A receptionist spoke to them from the other side of glass that separated his working area from the waiting room.  
>"Can I help you?" he asked<p>

"Yes," replied Sakura turning to speak to him as Sai ventured deeper into the waiting room to sit silently.  
>"We are here to see a friend of ours"<p>

"And what is the person's name?" asked the man, already pulling out a chart that listed the names of all the patients in the clinic.

"Naruto Uzumaki" replied Sakura.

The man stared down at his list for a long moment, his eyes flicking across the page.  
>"I'm sorry, we have no patient by that name." he looked back down to his paper.<br>Sakura cursed to herself mentally for letting her hopes up that Naruto would be there. Of course Naruto would make himself hard to find in such a small place.  
>"Although, he wouldn't happen to be a blonde boy wearing orange clothing would he?" asked the man.<p>

Sakura's face lit up.  
>"Yes"<p>

The man ignored her enthusiasm and called down the hall for a nurse before sitting back in his seat behind his reception desk and continuing his paper work; ignoring Sakura who still stood in front of him.

A lovely looking nurse with green hair tied back in a long ponytail entered the waiting room from the hallways and stood before Sai as Sakura joined his side; her white nurse uniform putting the white walls to shame.

Then nurse bowed her head to them.  
>"Welcome to Sotobamura clinic. My name is Ritsuko. How may I help you?" she asked with a kind voice and a warm smile.<p>

"They are friends of the orange boy" replied the man behind the desk without looking up.

Ritsuko glared down at him for a moment, disliking that he replied when her question wasn't to him; but the man didn't notice and continued his work.

"We are ninja from the Leaf village" stated Sakura, Sai and her bowing their heads in return to the nurse, causing her to smile warmly at them again "This is Sai and my name is Sakura"

Ritsuko nodded to them and led them down the hallway to the room where Naruto, the 'orange boy' was.

Several doors before Naruto's room a man stepped out into the hallway, Ritsuko pausing before his and bowing her head.  
>"Doctor, how is the boy?" she asked kindly<p>

The doctor turned to face her. He had brown messy spiked hair and a layer of matching brown stubble that covered his chin and sides of his face lightly. He wore dark pants and a pale green shirt beneath his long white doctor coat and he looked to Sai and Sakura behind the nurse with tired eyes.

"I was just going to check on him" replied the doctor without changing his tired expression. He then turned to lead the way to Naruto's room, the nurse, Sakura and Sai following behind him.

"These two are Sakura and Sai," stated Ritsuko to the doctor as they continued down the hall  
>"they are ninja from the Leaf village"<p>

"Oh," replied the doctor tiredly without turning to face them "more from the Leaf village"

Sakura had expected him to say something else, but he didn't speak again till they reached the room.

The doctor tapped on the window of the door and a wide nurse opened the door to him.  
>"Oh doctor"<p>

"How is he?" asked the doctor to the wide nurse who stood in the door way.

"He just woke up, but he seems a bit dazed"

"Thank you" replied the doctor, nodding his head to the wide nurse and she left the room to tend to other patients.

The doctor stood in the door way and turned to face the two of them and Ritsuko.  
>"Ritsuko, I would like you and the two ninja from the leaf village to stay by the door way and to remain silent while I speak to him" he waited for a moment till all three of them nodded to him in agreement before the entered the room.<p> 


	2. Chapter 2: Twisted

The room was white, like the rest of the clinic, with a single bed in the room with a horrible shade of pink bed covers and a window that had white curtains that were pulled to one side to let sunlight into the room.  
>Under the covers of the bed lay Naruto who stared up to the ceiling. His skin was pale and lines under his eyes showed his fatigue.<p>

The doctor left the three of them standing by the door way and sat on the other side of Naruto's bed.

The doctor pulled down the bed covers to expose Naruto's abdomen and arms and lifted his jacket to listen to his vitals through his stethoscope.  
>Naruto moved his eyes to the doctor, but otherwise did nothing.<p>

The doctor lifted the end of the stethoscopes to listen to Naruto's heart.  
>"What is your name?" asked the doctor, paying more attention to his stethoscope than Naruto.<p>

Naruto didn't respond till the doctor asked a second time.  
>"N-Naruto" replied Naruto, his voice weak and heavy from his exhaustion.<p>

"Alright. Do you know where you are?" asked the doctor, moving the stethoscope to listen to Naruto's breathing.

Naruto opened his dry mouth to reply, but said nothing.

"Do you remember how you got here?" asked the doctor now listening to Naruto's stomach

Again Naruto went to speak but said nothing.  
>"I collapsed" replied Naruto weakly after a long moment passed, his words seemingly taking a lot of effort to speak; still unaware of anyone else's presence.<p>

He breathed through his open mouth as the doctor put away his stethoscope.

"Yes you did. You were found wandering the village during the night. Why were you outside so late?" asked the doctor, watching Naruto for the first time.

"I –" started Naruto but he didn't finish.

"You what?" asked the doctor

"I don't know" finished Naruto closing his eyes more.

"Is it you don't know or that you won't tell me?" asked the doctor, his voice becoming slightly firmer.

Naruto opened his eyes slightly more and looked to the doctor not knowing what to respond with.

"Were you attacked?" asked the doctor with a sharp edge in his voice.

The question had come from now where, Ritsuko shifting uncomfortably from the doctor's behaviour.

Naruto didn't respond.

"Were you attacked by anyone while you were outside last night?"

"I – " started Naruto "no. I don't know"

The doctor was losing his patience.  
>"You don't know or you were told not to say anything?"<p>

Naruto looked to him with wider eyes then before.  
>Frightened maybe.<p>

"Was I really outside?" asked Naruto, his voice quitter from his uncertainty.

The doctor calmed himself, finally thinking he was getting somewhere.  
>"Yes. Did anything strange happen last night?"<br>The doctor thought back to the last patient that he had lost in the clinic. She was an elderly woman who had showed the same symptoms as Naruto; same symptoms as all the sick villagers who were dying.  
>He remembered what the elderly woman had spoken of when he asked if anything strange had happened lately. She had had a dream.<br>A dream of the dead.  
>"Have you had any dreams?" asked the doctor intently.<p>

Naruto turned his head to face the doctor briefly before returning to watch the ceiling.  
>"Yes" replied Naruto softly.<p>

Sakura and Sai wondered what was with all the doctor's questions and how they had anything to do with Naruto looking as sick as he did now.  
>It was strange.<br>Naruto had never been sick before. Never.  
>They guessed that the fox inside him had protected him from sickness, but why would he be sick now.<br>Why was he so ill?  
>Where was Hinata?<p>

"Tell me about this dream" stated the doctor calmly.

Naruto stared up at the ceiling as he explained his dream, having to pause for breath after every few words.  
>"I was sleeping…when…..I heard tapping…..at the window. I looked out…..and Hinata was there – "<p>

"Who is Hinata?" asked the Doctor

"She is a teammate of mine. We came here together." Replied Naruto before the doctor beckoned him to continue describing his dream.  
>"She wanted me to come outside so I did. But when…..I went outside she was gone. So I went…..looking for her. She found me first but – " he broke off. His chin wobbled slightly before he continued "She attacked me."<p>

"Attacked you?" repeated the doctor.  
>Naruto nodded his head to the ceiling.<br>"Did she bite you?" asked the doctor.

It was the strangest question, but Naruto nodded to the ceiling again. Sakura didn't understand why Hinata would attack him or even bite him of all things.

"Where?" asked the doctor leaning closer to the bed.

"She said she was hungry so," Naruto lifted his right arm slightly.  
>The doctor took hold of Naruto's arm and pulled down his sleeve to expose his arm and there, on his wrist where two red spots.<br>The doctor gave Naruto back his arm and let out a tired sigh.  
>"He is infected. Call Seishin. Tell him to come here right away" ordered the doctor to Ritsuko. She left the make the call and the doctor stood from Naruto's side and let out another tired sigh as Naruto closed his eyes again to rest.<p>

'_Infected with what?'_ thought Sai as he continued to observe Naruto's seemingly fragile body.

"Naruto" said Sakura quietly as she came by his bedside but he didn't wake from his sleep.

"Don't bother. He won't wake. We are lucky he woke in the first place" stated the doctor scratching his messed hair.

"What is wrong with him?" asked Sai as he stepped further into the room.

"He's been bitten, just like the other sick people in this village"

"What's that supposed to mean?" order Sakura

"The people in this village have been dying one by one. At first I thought it may have been an epidemic. Bu the other night proved me wrong. The risen have been attacking the villagers"

"What?"

"The villagers that have died have come back from the dead and feed off the living. Your friend there has been bitten by one. His attacker will probably be back tonight. Earlier we had an elderly woman who was sick with the same thing. I saw the bite mark on her and she explained that she had had a dream of her granddaughter coming back to life. Seishin and I waited the night to see the attacker and sure enough it was her dead granddaughter."

Sai and Sakura looked distraught.  
>The risen?<br>Surly there was no such thing.

The doctor continued "We found that the risen cannot enter a house or building without permission, but they had already bitten the woman which allowed them the power to control them. So instead of coming in, they got the woman to walk out to them"

"That can't be, there is no such thing as the risen!" retorted Sakura thinking logically.

The doctor looked to her more seriously than he had ever looked before.  
>"I assure you there are. And furthermore your friend here will be dead within the next few days" with that said the doctor went to leave the room.<p>

"So are you saying that he will become one of them?" ordered Sakura, letting her rage slip into her voice.

"Not everyone returns to life." replied the doctor before he left the room.

Sakura refused to believe it.  
>The risen – how stupid.<p>

She turned back to study Naruto with her medical ninjustu and found that he was missing some of his blood, which explained his weariness and made what the doctor said that much more believable.

She wouldn't believe it. Naruto wasn't going to die.  
>And where the hell was Hinata?<p>

Sai turned to face Sakura, seeing her frustration.  
>"Sakura –"<p>

"What?" stated Sakura with such urgency that Sai flinched.

"Well, maybe we should stay here for the night, you know, to keep an eye on Naruto. I will send a painting bird to Tsunade to explain why he hasn't returned" replied Sai calmly.

"And what are you going to tell Tsunade about Hinata?" Sai looked at her and shrugged before he left the room to paint a bird and send a message to Tsunade.

Sakura's legs felt weak.  
>There was no way that Naruto would die or that the risen did exist.<br>Naruto always said that he would _never_ give up until he was Hokage.  
>But the more she thought of what the doctor had said the more she wondered if it was possible and the more she worried about Naruto.<br>She sat by his bed in the seat the doctor had sat on and put her face in her hands.  
>She focused on her breathing for a long moment.<br>Where was Hinata?  
>It was driving Sakura mad. Hinata <em>loved<em> Naruto, she wouldn't leave him and especially when he was in such a condition.  
>And furthermore, Naruto had stated that in his dream, which the doctor suspects was not a dream, that Hinata was the one who attacked him and took his blood.<br>It couldn't be true.  
>For Hinata to drink Naruto's blood that would make her one of the risen, which would mean that Hinata was dead.<br>That she died here and that she was killed by one of the risen.  
>It made sense but it didn't all at once.<br>Sakura looked to Naruto who breathed softly though his mouth as he rested.

* * *

><p>Sai returned from sending his painted messenger bird to the waiting room. Before the waiting room had been empty but this time a silent man sat in a robe waiting for someone.<br>Curious as he was, Sai sat himself on the other side of the waiting room, hidden in a dark corner and waited.  
>It was night now and the nurses and man who sat at the reception desk had left for theirs homes before the sun had set and all the doors and windows had been closed and locked; as though the people of the village were afraid of the dark.<p>

The doctor of the clinic came down the stairs into the waiting room and sat in a seat opposite the robbed man.

"Thank you for coming Seishin"

"It is alright Toshio. Why did you call me here?"

"I have a patient at the clinic, a boy. He has been bitten by one of the risen"

"So he is infected?"

Infected?  
>Sai wondered what it was Naruto was infected with.<p>

Toshio nodded  
>"His attacker will probably come for him again tonight and most likely the night after that till he dies"<p>

Seishin seemed calm and selected still.  
>"And what do you plan to do? Protect him?"<p>

"No. We have tried that before but they only killed that woman instantly when they got to her"  
>Seishin knew what Toshio was talking about. He had been with him when they attempted to protect the elderly woman at the clinic. They managed to stop her attacker the first night, but the next night the risen had attacked in force and ordered the woman to go outside to them.<br>All the risen had converged on her and killed her quickly.  
>He wasn't going to let the boy, Naruto, die like that.<p>

"Then what is it you plan to do?"  
>Something dark entered Seishin's voice when he asked, but Sai – as bad as he was at reading people – couldn't tell what it was.<p>

"I plan on letting his attacker get to him" stated Toshio coldly.

Sai wanted to speak up, but they hadn't noticed him yet.

"What? You would sacrifice that boy, for what purpose?"

"He could help us"

"How?"

"See if there is a way to reverse it or what their weaknesses are"

"Toshio, I do not believe you can reverse this. They are dead. The only thing a treatment would be doing is killing them again."

The two men sat in silence for a long moment.  
>Toshio pulled out a smoke and lit it taking in a long slow breath.<p>

"I heard the boy has friends here in the village. What do you plan to do with them? I do not think they will let you sacrifice him" questioned Seishin.

"They can stay at my house in the clinic, so they will never be away from him. But they must stay away from the boy or they may be attacked also"

Both men fell silent again, before Toshio rose to his feet and beckoned for Seishin to follow him back to his house which was directly connected to behind the clinic.


	3. Chapter 3: The Loss

Sai waited for the two men to leave the room before Sai dared to move for Naruto's room to find Sakura.  
>He found her asleep with her head on the bed as she still sat in the seat beside Naruto's bed.<p>

"Sakura?" said Sai softly trying to wake her without having to touch her.

Sakura retorted with a sleepy mumble that sounded a lot like a '_fuck off'_

"Sakura" said Sai again, this time placing a hand lightly to her back to wake her properly.  
>She was quick. In a flash Sakura grabbed a hold of Sai's fingers and squeezed them tight as she straightened herself to look up at him.<p>

"What is it?" she growled

"I need to speak with you," Sai paused to look over to Naruto who still remained asleep and pale "outside" he didn't want to risk Naruto overhearing what he was about to tell Sakura, he couldn't imagine how Naruto would react if he was the slightest bit awake – he pictured a lot of yelling.

Sakura stared at him for a long moment, the only sound being slight tapping in the window from a branch outside. Hesitantly Sakura got to her feet and followed Sai out of the room and softly closed the door behind her.

"If you are going to speak to me, at least let me wake up first' stated Sakura as she led the way into another room down the hall that was the nurse's room which had a kitchen and lounge area.

* * *

><p>"Naruto" said a soft voice from outside the room.<p>

The voice had been so soft that he was surprised he had awoken to it.  
>He glanced around the room, but he was alone in the dark white room.<p>

A tapping came from the window and he knew exactly who it was.  
>Hinata.<p>

Despite his weariness and fatigued body he managed to get to his feet and make his way slowly to the window.  
>Through the moonlight of the night he could see the faint silhouette that was Hinata on the other side of the window. He pulled back the white curtain to reveal Hinata on the other side of the window.<br>She wore the same clothes as when he had last seen her alive.  
>Her skin was pale and her eyes were entirely black, the only colour in her eyes being from her glowing red irises.<br>The eyes of the risen.

She smiled to him through the window as though everything was normal.  
>"N-Naruto" stammered Hinata shyly as she used to always do "please, can I come in?"<p>

Naruto knew what she wanted.  
>She was hungry.<p>

He knew what would happen if he unlocked the window for her.  
>What would happen if he let her inside.<p>

"Naruto" came her soft voice.  
>He lifted his hand to the window lock, resting his fingers on the lock.<br>He didn't want to open the window, but his body wouldn't listen to reason.  
>Instead his hand lifted the window lock, allowing Hinata to open the window and enter the room.<p>

She approached Naruto and hugged him tightly as though she hadn't seen him for a long time.  
>Dyeing had made her different. She wasn't shy anymore. She wasn't the same Hinata anymore.<br>Her body was cold against him and her chest never moved from breathing.

She lifted her head to his ear and whispered to him.  
>"I missed you."<br>Every instinct in his body was yelling at him to move, to run.  
>The fox was growling at him to get away from her.<br>But he had already been bitten by her once before. She had control over him now.  
>He couldn't move, his body frozen as her mouth opened towards his neck.<p>

He felt her new fangs pierce his neck and his body let out a shudder from the sensation of her sucking out his blood.  
>Almost instantly his knees became too weak to support his weight and he stumbled backwards.<br>Hinata forced him backwards so he fell onto the bed and not onto the hard floor of the clinic.

He lay across his bed on his back the wrong way, his legs hanging off the bed.  
>Hinata returned to his neck to gorge her hunger with his hot blood.<p>

After several minutes Hinata withdrew her fangs from his flesh and sat on her knees beside him on the bed.  
>Naruto looked up to her, barley able to move his body.<p>

"I'm sorry Naruto. I didn't mean –" she broke off her words.  
>This was the real Hinata he had known.<p>

She let a tear role down her cheek.  
>"Naruto, I don't know what else to do. I – I can't stop myself. I just get so – so hungry" sobbed Hinata above him.<p>

Naruto managed a smile to her which haltered her sobbing.  
>"It is alright Hinata" said Naruto, his voice a croaked whisper from his weariness.<br>"I know your just hungry"

Hinata then began to sob again.  
>Naruto lost his consciousness while she sobbed beside him.<p>

* * *

><p>Sakura was furious.<br>She didn't know her way around the clinic but she soon found Toshio's house that was directly connected to the clinic. She marched down the hallway that connected the two buildings, Sai following cautiously behind her, not wanting to get in her way when she was so angry.

"What the hell do you think you are doing?" cried Sakura in rage as he marched in to Toshio's living room where he stood beside Seishin who sat on a couch.  
>Toshio and Seishin looked to her silently, shocked by her sudden appearance and outburst.<p>

"You have no right to use Naruto!" exclaimed Sakura, letting her anger ferment within her.

"It is for research" stated Toshio

"Research? He is our friend and a ninja form the Leaf village. You can't just sacrifice him like that"

"He is the only person we have who can help us right now. If we can't do this research our entire village will die from the Shiki" retorted the doctor calmly.

"Shiki?" questioned Sai from a safe distance behind Sakura.

"The risen are also known as shiki. They prefer to be called shiki than vampires or the risen" explained Seishin

"I don't care what they prefer to be called!" exclaimed Sakura "You can't use _our_ Naruto like this"

"I'm afraid it is already too late for him" stated Toshio "He is a slave to them now until he dies. No matter what, they will kill him"

"We can take him away from here. We can keep them away from him" proposed Sakura desperately

"No. Once bitten they become a slave to their attacker. He will only return to his attacker" stated the doctor calmly.

Sakura hadn't realised before how much she hated the word 'attacker'.  
>They were calling Hinata – sweet, nice Hinata – an attacker.<p>

It couldn't be true.  
>Hinata couldn't be dead.<br>Didn't Naruto help her? Protect her?  
>And of all the people for Hinata to attack, why Naruto?<br>She cared too much for him to _attack_ him.

"As it stands, his attacker has probably already come for him." Sakura snapped back to attention at Toshio's comment.  
>She never should have left the room.<p>

Sakura turned and ran back down the hallway that connected the two buildings and ran down the hallways till she reached Naruto's room.  
>She swung to door open, pausing to check the room.<p>

There lay Naruto on his bed, laying the wrong way, with his legs hanging off the side.  
>And the cold.<br>A cold breeze came in through the open window.

Toshio entered the room and moved past her to Naruto's side.  
>He confirmed to Sakura that Naruto was only unconscious and presented to her the two red spots that were teeth marks that were present on his neck.<p>

Sai and Seishin entered the room after them.  
>Toshio stood and faced the window.<br>"He must have let the shiki in"

"Don't you mean broke in" corrected Sakura close to tears, she desperately hoped she was right and that Naruto hadn't opened the window to his attacker, Hinata.  
>He would have surly known what would have happened to him if he did.<p>

"No, he would have let her in. They can only enter a building if they are _let_ in. And at any rate, he would have let her in if she had asked him to. Once bitten they are slaves to them" stated Toshio in response.

He shut the window and locked it again before returning to inspect Naruto.

"How long?" asked Seishin, his tone suggesting he didn't want to know.

"He may make it to a third attack another night. But I wouldn't rule out him not lasting till then"

Sakura's knees gave out beneath her and she fell to the hard clinic floor.  
>She fell her face into her hands and wept at the men's' cold words.<br>Sai approached her and knelt down beside her, placing a hand to her back and tried to comfort her to the best of his ability – which wasn't the best.

Together Toshio and Seishin shifted Naruto's body so he was lying in the bed correctly and covered him with the horrid pink sheets before they left.

Sakura wanted to help him, but her medical ninjustu couldn't replenish his lost blood.  
>She felt helpless.<br>The clinic didn't have any blood to give him, having been taken previously by the shiki which craved blood so much.

All Sakura could do was cry for him.  
>Sai and Sakura remained with Naruto throughout the night just for the sake of being there for him.<p>

* * *

><p>The doctor had guessed correctly.<br>Naruto hadn't made it through the night.  
>His body had grown cold and his chest lifted and fell no more, instead he remained in his bed motionless as the sun rose for a new day.<p> 


	4. Chapter 4: Resolving Theories

Sai had insisted that he and Sakura leave the clinic for the day to explore the village and maybe to search for Hinata.  
>But all Sakura wanted to know was what was going wrong in this village.<p>

"Hey" said Kaori as she rounded a corner in the village's main street and met Sakura and Sai.  
>Sai and Sakura looked to her without smiling.<br>"How's your friend?" she asked cheerfully

Sakura lowered her head as Sai shook his head slowly to the girl. Kaori let out a soft gasp and an apology for their loss.

"Kaori!" called a shorter boy who ran up to her. The boy paused to breath, puffed form running, before he continued.  
>"Natsuno is sick"<p>

"What?" cried Kaori, eyes wide with her shock.

The boy turned to lead the way to Natsuno's but halted when he noticed Kaori wasn't behind him.

"I'm sorry," stated Kaori, bowing her head "but I should go with my brother"

"Maybe we could help" replied Sai, giving her a friendly smile.

Kaori hesitated for a moment, her younger brother calling to her from further up the street.  
>Kaori nodded her head to them before turning to follow her brother, Sai and Sakura following close behind.<p>

The slowed their pace to a walk as they turned down a quitter street.

"This is my brother, Akira" explained Kaori to them. She pointed ahead to her lighter brown headed brother that led the way, to focused on reaching their friends house to react.

"So what has been happening in this village?" asked Sai, taking over Sakura's role of questioning people as she was too focused on her thoughts of Hinata and the loss of Naruto to paying attention.

Kaori looked down to the road.  
>"You wouldn't believe us anyway" she stated solemnly.<p>

"Well," retorted Sai cheerfully "You won't know that till I hear it" he gave one of his trade mark you-can-trust-me smiles.

Kaori returned her attention to Sai as they walked.  
>"Well, in the past few weeks, so many people in the village have become sick and died, and they all had the same illness, like your friend. Akira and I suspected that it had something to do with the new people who moved into the big house on the hill," she gestured in the distance to the large European style house that didn't fit into the village, "So one day we waited around, heading near the house and we saw one of the villagers that had died enter the house after dark. It was then that we knew something was wrong and that the dead villagers weren't dead. It was then that Natsuno met up with us and told us that he had the same thoughts" she looked back down to the path.<br>"He said he had seen Megumi"

"Who is Megumi?" asked Sai, his smile now a thin line on his face.

"She was my friend. And she was the first to die of the illness" Kaori's tone shifted slightly to a more sad one.

"And why do you suspect the new people who moved into the village?" asked Sakura having snapped back to attention.

"Because this all started when the moved in. And before Megumi became sick she had gone to see the new people" replied Kaori, misery entering her voice.

"Come on Kaori" said Akira as he stood before a house. He turned into the front yard of the house and waited by the house's door for the others to catch up.

Together they knocked on the door to the house and waited till a tall thin man with bags beneath his eyes and long dark hair that was tied back in a ponytail with some hair still in his face opened the door.

"Yes?" he asked tiredly

"Um, we are here to see Natsuno" replied Akira.

"He's not well. Come again another time" stated the man waving them away.

"We know he's not well" replied Kaori pleadingly

"That's why we came to see him" finished Akira.

The man in the door way turned back and stared at the four of them carefully. He finally opened the door wider and stood to the side to allow them in.

* * *

><p>Entering Natsuno's bedroom they found the purple haired boy looking pale beneath his bed covers.<br>Akira shut the door softly behind them, the faintest sound caught Natsuno's attention and he turned his head to face them.

"How are you Natsuno?" asked Kaori standing beside his bed.

He remained silent and breathed through his open mouth as Akira came beside his sister next to his bed.

Toshio, Seishin, Akira and Kaori hadn't been lying.  
>The illness or more the attacks had been affecting many of the villagers.<br>The boy, Natsuno, looked much like Naruto had when they had first seen him in the clinic, only Naruto had died that following night.  
>Would it be the same for this boy too?<p>

"I have proof" stated Natsuno weakly as he smiled up to them.

He lifted a hand to the collar of his shirt slowly and pulled the fabric away from his neck to reveal the two red fang marks that were from the shiki.

Kaori and Akira looked horrified.

"W-who was it that bit you?" asked Kaori "was it Megumi?"

Natsuno shook his head.  
>"Toruru" he replied taking a deep breath<p>

Sakura shifted her weight at the back of the room, catching Natsuno's attention for the first time.

"Who are they?" he asked

Kaori and Akira glanced back as though they had forgotten Sakura and Sai were with them.

"They are here to help. They're ninja from the Leaf village" replied Akira proudly

Natsuno let out a _humph_.  
>"What can they do? That last two ninja that came from the Leaf were attacked" he stated smugly<p>

Sakura clenched her fists with frustration.  
>The jerk, Natsuno, was right though. Hinata and Naruto had come from the Leaf to help and now Hinata was dead and she had killed Naruto.<p>

"H-have you seen Megumi?" asked Kaori shyly, unsure if she wanted to know the answer or not. She knew that Megumi had risen from her grave and become a shiki. Natsuno had seen her attack Toruru and together they had dug up her grave and indeed found her coffin empty.

Natsuno nodded.  
>"Toruru had refused to attack me, so Megumi and Tatsumi were going to but Toruru attacked me to keep them away"<p>

"Who is Tatsumi?" asked Sakura

"He's one of them. He came here with the family that moved into the huge house on the hill" replied Akira angrily.  
>"But don't you worry Natsuno, we will stay and protect you from the shiki" added Akira enthusiastically.<br>Kaori nodded in agreement looking determined herself.  
>But Natsuno shook his head to them.<p>

"No"

"What? Why?" asked Akira, confused.

"If you stay you will only be attacked to. And it doesn't bother me if I die" stated Natsuno

"What?" cried Kaori "You will only become a shiki"

"Maybe, but not everyone wakes up after dyeing. And if I do, then I will rip them apart from the inside" stated Natsuno.

Akira and Kaori fell silent.

"So they have some self-control?" asked Sakura stepping forward from the back of the room.

Natsuno looked at her carefully for a moment before answering.  
>"Yes. Toruru didn't attack me at first, and when he did he did it to save me from the others"<br>Natsuno turned his gaze to the wooden ceiling.  
>"But it's deeper than that. The shiki can't go long without feeding on blood. It's the only thing they can feed on, if they go without they can die quickly from starvation. But many of the shiki learn to enjoy killing people"<p>

"What?" started Kaori, shocked that anyone could enjoy killing.

"Toruru had told me that when they first rise, another of their kind tells them everything and locks them in a room with a human till they kill that person. He said that after the first taste of blood they lose their humanity" finished Natsuno, closing his eyes from exhaustion.

The room fell silent again and the four of them looked to one another.

* * *

><p>"I think you should come back with us to the clinic" stated Sakura as they walked back down the village's main street.<p>

Kaori and Akira looked to her as they walked, silently questioning her statement.

"You should speak to the doctor. He has the same theories as you do" finished Sakura

"They're not theories!" retorted Akira stubbornly.


	5. Chapter 5: Impending Loss Again

They arrived to the clinic and entered the doors into the waiting room. The staff were still present in the clinic and the man who sat at the reception desk glanced up at them as they walked past him.

Sakura stopped one of the nurses to ask where the doctor was, being told he was in his home, they went through the hallway that connected the clinic to Toshio's home and entered into his living room.  
>Akira and Kaori sat on the couch and Sai and Sakura spilt up to search for the doctor to get him to talk to the children of the village.<br>Sakura entered room after room; it was surprising how many empty bedrooms Toshio had in his home.

Sakura opened a door to a dimly lit room. Inside she saw blood; too much of it. She entered the room to inspect it closer.  
>The room was white like the rooms in the clinic. It had a bed in the centre of the room, along with machines that detected pulse. A tray sat beside the bed covered with surgery utensils and syringes. In the bed beside the tray was a body of a pretty woman.<br>The woman's eyes had been closed for respect of her death and her mouth had been taped shut.  
>Despite the blood that covered the surgery utensils there were no cuts or marks on the woman's body.<br>Sakura found the source where the blood had spread from. The woman had a wooden stake hammered into her heart; killing her horribly.

Sakura took a step away from the corpse, covering her mouth with a hand in shock.  
>Why had the woman been killed?<br>And why was she in the doctor's home?

"She is my wife" stated Toshio as he silently entered the room and stood beside Sakura.

Sakura turned to face him, horrified. Toshio wore his same clothes that he did usually; a shirt with dark pants and a white doctors' coat, but all his clothing and even his face had splashes of blood.

"She was killed and became a shiki" continued Toshio "I tried to reverse it, but nothing worked" he looked more tired than he had the previous day.

Sakura lowered her hand.  
>"So instead you found a way to kill them" finished Sakura<p>

The doctor nodded and lit a smoke.  
>He exited the room and waited by the open door for Sakura to follow, closing it behind her to shut away the blood. He walked further down the hallway till he reached a bathroom and washed down his face and removed his white coat to erase the blood he wore.<p>

Sakura still didn't know what to say to the doctor as she followed him back down the hallway to the living room.  
>Sai had already returned to the living room and sat on the arm of the couch on the opposite end to Akira and Kaori.<br>The three of them looked to face the doctor as he entered the room. He moved to stand opposite them inhaling and exhaling his smoke as he did so.

Toshio let out a puff of smoke.  
>"And what are you both doing here?" he asked the children.<p>

"Sakura and Sai thought it would be a good idea for us to speak with you" replied Kaori

Toshio looked to Sakura and Sai.  
>"They know about the shiki" stated Sakura<p>

The doctor returned his gaze to the children.  
>"And how did you both find this out?"<p>

"We saw one of them entering the big house up on the hill" replied Akira

"And Natsuno said he has seen Megumi and Toruru" finished Kaori.

Toshio stood silently for a short while as he concentrated on his smoke.  
>"Yes. Seishin and I have seen Nao and others" stated the doctor.<br>He finished his smoke and crossed his arms in thought.

Each of them later shared what they have learnt about the shiki.  
>They had learnt that when the shiki have risen they are forced to kill their first human, that some of them still contained <em>some<em> control over the shiki instinct, that not all of the dead rose again as shiki, that the shiki only fed on blood and that once bitten a person would obey their attackers command.

Toshio then explained that he had learnt that their body heals almost immediately, that they were afraid of the sound of bells and anything to do with religion, that they didn't awake within the first 24 hours of their death and that the only way to kill them was to stop their heart or remove their head.  
>Sakura was glad that he hadn't mentioned that he had learnt all this by testing on his dead wife. She didn't want to imagine how Kaori and Akira would feel about that.<p>

They were quickly gaining a full picture of their enemy.

Kaori and Akira were sent home before it was dark, while Sai and Sakura remained in Toshio's house.

"I will send another report to Lady Hokage in the morning" announced Sai as he remained seated on the couch's arm.

Sakura looked to him from her seat on the couch.  
>"And what are you going to tell her?" she looked down to her feet.<br>"That Hinata is supposably dead and that she killed Naruto"

They both fell back into silent misery.

* * *

><p>"You two can stay here for the night" stated Toshio as he silently entered the living area with an unlit smoke in his mouth.<br>"I have set up rooms for you both"

"Thank you" replied Sakura, looking back up to him only for the sake of being polite. Sai nodded to him agreeing with what Sakura had said to him and Toshio returned the nod.

"Doctor" stated Ritsuko as she hurriedly entered his living room.

"Yes?" asked Toshio as he turned to face her with the unlit smoke still in his mouth.

Ritsuko took a short moment to catch her breath before reporting her news.  
>"We just received several phone calls. Two villagers, Natsuno and Raymen, have passed away"<p>

With the news said, Toshio lowered his head to her in gratitude for the information and Ritsuko lowered her head back to the doctor before turning to return to her duties.

* * *

><p>Toshio later showed Sakura and Sai their rooms that sat close to one another, a small amount of rooms in between theirs, for them to sleep in during their stay in the village before her politely bid them a good night and left for his own room to sleep.<p>

Sakura _was_ sleeping, finally, after having trouble closing her eyes without an image of Hinata and Naruto trying to drain her blood entering her mind.  
>But she was awoken by the sound of her sheets moving and a weight pressing down against her mattress.<p>

Sakura pulled out a kunai from beneath her pillow and flicked on the lamp simultaneously only to find Sai in the bed next to her staring up at the kunai that hovered above his nose.

"Ah, Sakura….don't you think that could be a bit dangerous" stated Sai as though nothing was wrong.

Sakura glared down at him.  
>"What are you doing in my bed you creep?" she snarled to him.<p>

"Ah, well" he lifted a finger to the kunai to move it away from his face before he sat up in the bed  
>"I was looking for the bathroom but –"<p>

"Does this look like a bathroom?"

"Well no but –"

"Then why the hell did you crawl into my bed?"

"I _was_ looking for the bathroom, but I didn't know which door it was and I opened this door and –"

"And what?" snapped Sakura, growing impatient with him.

"Well…I thought….you may have been scared"

Sakura just glared at him for a long moment.

"Get out" she said flatly

Sai silently stood out of the bed and left to room. He turned further down the hall and tried the next door, making as much racket as he could as he opened the door.

"Nope, not the bathroom" he reported back to Sakura, his voice keeping her from falling asleep again.  
>Sakura snarled to herself.<br>'_How did I end up partnered with a moron like him? Naruto would have been –'_  
>She paused in her thought, having thought about Naruto. She pictured what he would have said and done in that same situation. She imagined she would have hit him instead of letting him explain himself.<br>She felt a hole in herself that only Naruto could fill.

"Ah, Sakura" called Sai from the hall

She wanted to ignore him and pretend she was asleep but she answered him anyway, cursing to herself afterwards.  
>"What?" she called back annoyed.<p>

"I think you should see this"

"Sai, I don't want to see you going to the bathroom"

"No it's not that – " he didn't finish, but his tone sounded strange.

Sakura grumbled to herself as she got out of her bed and entered the hallway, dragging her feet till she stood by Sai.

"What is it?" she grumbled at him.

Sai looked strangely paler than usual, which Sakura was sure wasn't possible or a good sign. He pointed into the lit room.

The room was another white room with a bed in the centre and equipment to the side of the room, including another machine that detected pulse. The only difference in this room was the lack of blood.

Sakura's jaw dropped as she saw what Sai had seen.  
>On the bed was a body that had several black straps over his body to hold him to the bed. One across his chest, another over his waist, one over his legs and two smaller black straps holding down his hands and arms.<br>It was Naruto.

Instantly Sakura knew that Toshio suspected that Naruto would be one of the dead to revive and become a shiki.

Sakura and Sai stepped deeper into the white room, the only colour being from Naruto's orange and black clothing. Stepping closer Sakura observed the pulse detecting machine. He had no pulse; the lines that represented heartbeat remained flat and inactive.  
>They stepped closer.<br>His eyes were closed and his mouth slightly slack. His skin was pale from his death and he remained motionless.

Sakura hadn't told Sai about her finding Toshio's wife that he had experimented on and killed. The horrid thought of Naruto having the same thing happen to him entered her mind. She pictured entering a white room stained with red to find a wooden stake through Naruto's chest and his eyes wide from the fear and pain.

It wasn't right. Naruto should be returned to the Leaf village to be buried and to be given a funeral. Where he belonged.  
>It was bad enough that he hadn't been buried here, but this.<br>The idea of Toshio using him for experiments and to finally kill him was terrifying.

The look on Sai's face announced to Sakura that he had pasted the bits and pieces together and understood what would happen to Naruto if he were to wake.

It hadn't yet been 24 hours since Naruto had died, so they knew he wouldn't wake up anytime soon, which meant they had time to save him.

"What are we going to do?" asked Sai lightly as he stared down at Naruto's lifeless body.

"We can't do anything yet. We will talk to Toshio tomorrow"

"But what if he wakes? Toshio will –"

"Not yet. He won't wake yet. So we can wait till morning" replied Sakura softly, hiding her quivering voice.

They both returned to their rooms solemnly to sleep till the morning where they would confront Toshio.

* * *

><p>Sakura lay in bed, unable to sleep again.<br>She thought of what she would say to Toshio. She was furious that he had kept Naruto's body and that of all things; he was keeping him to experiment on if he awoke as a shiki.

She would demand that his body be returned to the Leaf village where Naruto belonged for a proper burial and funeral like he deserved.  
>He didn't deserve this.<p> 


	6. Chapter 6: Sleepless Night

Sakura slammed her fist onto the dining table in Toshio's home, causing Sai to flinch behind her, but the doctor remained calm.  
>"What the hell do you think you are doing with Naruto's body?" cried Sakura, letting her rage blaze.<p>

"I am keeping it to see if he awakes as a shiki" replied Toshio calmly with his hands the pockets of his now clean white doctor coat.

"Then what?" demanded Sakura.

"Then I will try to treat him" replied Toshio

"You've tried that already!" exclaimed Sakura "You tried it on your wife, but it didn't work!"

Sai didn't know what Sakura was referring to but didn't want to brave her rage to ask.

"I will try different treatments"

"And what if they don't work? What then? You just going to kill him?" shouted Sakura  
>She was surprised how the doctor remained so calm and collected. He had probably expected it.<p>

"I won't be killing him, he is already dead"

Sakura faltered. She had been so focused on saving Naruto that she had forgotten that he _was _dead. If he awoke he would only be coming _back_ from death.  
>She refused to give in the Toshio.<p>

"He may not even wake. Let us take him back home. Where he belongs"

"And what if he does awake? What if he can't control the shiki instincts and kills others? Then you will have more shiki and it will spread just like it has here" retorted Toshio.

Sakura let her arms fall limp by her sides.  
>She hadn't thought of that possibility either.<br>If Naruto did awake he wouldn't be Naruto anymore. He would be a monster in Naruto's skin.  
>She had lost.<p>

She looked back up to the doctor, her eyes tearing up from the thought of all the possibilities that could be Naruto.  
>"Okay" she said quietly.<br>Sai flinched behind her again. Giving in wasn't something Sakura made a habit of.

"Okay?" questioned the doctor

"Okay. But if he doesn't wake up let us take him home, please"

Toshio stared at her sad, tired face for a long moment then inclined his head to her in agreement.

* * *

><p>Sakura was lying in her bed that Toshio had given to her during their stay. It was a quiet night, but her head was still screaming to her.<br>Over the last few days of being in Sotobamura 7 people had died including Kaori's and Akira's friend, Natsuno.  
>And there was still no sign of Hinata anywhere.<p>

A faint knock echoed from her door and Sai brought his head around the door to look to Sakura who was sitting on the top of the bed covers hugging her knees. Seeing that she was awake he pushed the door open wider to expose Toshio who stood behind him in the hallway.  
>Sakura looked to Sai, her gaze questioning him.<p>

"Sakura" was all Sai said as he held his arm out to her in the door way with his palm up to her as a gesture for her to come with him. She was so tired, but sleep deprived as she was she followed Sai into the hallway anyway, without holding his hand as he had offered.

Toshio led the way only a few doors further down the hallway before he stopped and entered the room.  
>Sakura hadn't noticed it at first, but Toshio was leading Sai and her into the room where he held Naruto's corpse.<p>

She felt sick to enter the room where Naruto was being held captive in and she would have left the room silently, but stayed when she saw Naruto again.

As they moved closer Sakura's gaze met Naruto's eyes.  
>He looked to her for that brief moment, his eyes black with red irises, eyes that were so unlike Naruto that it stung.<br>Their gaze had only met for a second or more but he looked away, as though he were ashamed that he was alive again – or more, not so dead.

Naruto twisted his body in an attempt to release himself form the straps that held him to the bench as Toshio started.

He tipped a bright light so that it shone over Naruto, causing him to almost completely close him eyes in response, something that only alive people would do.

"What is your name?" asked Toshio in a tone that was closer to an order.

Naruto stared at Toshio for a moment and opened his mouth in an attempt to reply, but no voice came from him. He tried again, but still he made no sound.  
>Shocked with him own inability to speak Naruto shifted his body again and shook his head as he tried desperately to speak, to communicate, but he only managed a few gasping like sounds.<p>

He froze as Toshio spoke.  
>"He cannot speak," reported Toshio as though Sai and Sakura hadn't noticed, "It is due to him not breathing. When he was alive breathing and talking were done together, but now he doesn't know how to speak without breathing. It will take him a short while to get used to it" finished Toshio as he returned his attention to Naruto<p>

Toshio pulled out a scapple and held it towards Naruto. His eyes opened wider with a hint of fear about the scapple coming closer to him flesh. He gazed frantically to Sakura and Sai and tried to call out to them but again no noise came from him.  
>The scapple coming even closer, Naruto began to squirm again.<p>

They didn't have to look far to see that Naruto was scared.  
>He had only just woken from being dead and is strapped down to a table and about to be cut open while his friends stood by without helping him or even speaking to him.<p>

He tried to squirm free against the straps but froze when he felt the scapple enter the flesh of his check and slice along his face from his jaw to just under his eye.  
>Sakura and Sai flinched as a thin line of blood ran from the cut on Naruto's face but they saw Naruto's wound heal almost instantly and Toshio stood back to the side to confirm that they had seen it.<p>

With Toshio's back to him, Naruto attempted to free himself again.  
>It was then that it dawned on him that he had no chakra. Even the presence of the fox inside him was gone. He felt slightly empty without the fox's presence, having had the fox with him his entire life.<br>Naruto knew he had died. That he was technically still dead, but he had only realized that death also removed his chakra.

Naruto turned to face Sakura again, who refused to meet his gaze. He tried to call her name but he could only form the S sound to her name before Toshio approached his side and put a long needle through his ear and into the inside of his skull.  
>He felt his now cold blood drip from his ear and run out of his nose. The pain was incredibly, but for some strange reason he didn't scream. It was only when Toshio had removed the needle that he could let out a sound of agony although his pain had already begun to subside.<p>

Sakura couldn't stay.  
>She turned without a word to anyone and left the room quickly.<p>

Toshio and Sai watched her leave.  
>Toshio then placed his equipment down to a tray and went to observe the pulse detecting machine. The line that represented Naruto's pulse was no longer flat, but nowhere as high as that of a living persons. His heart beat was only quick enough to move the blood through his body at an incredibly slow rate, hence Naruto's heart only managed several beats per minute.<br>If he had been alive, he would certainly be dying from such a slow heart rate.

Toshio shut the door to the room and turned to face Naruto who still attempted to free himself from to straps that held him to the cold metal bench that made a 'bed'

"There are three of us here. If he attacks anyone, the other two protect that person from him, even if it means to kill him" stated Toshio.

Sai was confused to why Toshio had said such a comment, but he realised what he meant as the doctor made his way back to Naruto's side and removed the straps that held him down.

It was a very strong possibility that Naruto could have attacked Toshio for having cut him or maybe from hunger for blood, but instead Naruto shot to his feet and backed into the far corner of the room, watching Sai and Toshio cautiously for a few moment before he lowered himself to the cold floor and hugged his knees, hiding his face from them all.

The posture was so not like Naruto that it just proved how scared and confused Naruto must have been feeling.  
>Sai felt as though he should try to comfort Naruto, not that Naruto had ever appreciated Sai's 'comforting help' in the past. And to Sai he seemed unstable at the moment so he followed Toshio out of the room, turning off the light and shutting the door on Naruto who still sat huddled in the corner of the room.<p>

* * *

><p>Sakura wasn't asleep but she ignored Sai as he entered her room and asked if she was alright after having left the room after seeing Naruto, but she hadn't replied, only pretending to be asleep.<p>

She couldn't sleep anymore that night, too many thoughts ran through her head.

Further down the hall she heard a door softly open and close, but she regarded it as Sai creeping to the bathroom or Toshio going back to check on Naruto.  
>When Sakura's door opened she knew it was Sai.<br>She wanted to snap at him for creeping into her room yet again, but instead thought it better to continue her act of false sleep.

Sakura felt the mattress move from the weight of someone on the other side of the bed. She knew Sai was going to sneak under her covers again as he did the night before. This time though Sakura was going to ignore him till he felt safe and let his guard down, before she would strike him.

The weight on the other end of the shifted as Sai moved to lay down on top of the bed cover and rested his head on the spare pillow.  
>Sakura wanted to be patient, but the thought of hitting Sai for sneaking into her bed again was too great of a pleasure to put on hold, so she quickly swung her head to see him and to hit him with her fist but pulled her fist up short of Naruto's face.<p>

At first Sakura just froze.  
>But Naruto was <em>dead<em> he was a shiki. He _would_ attack her and drink her blood till she died and became like him and Hinata.  
>Sakura thought of running or calling for Sai but she didn't do either when Naruto only stared back at her from where he lay on the other side of her bed.<p>

His eyes were heavy, but he wasn't tired.  
>His black eyes that stared back at her were so unlike Naruto that she had to look away, but the rest of Naruto's body showed his sorrow.<br>He knew what he was now.  
>He lifted a hand to Sakura but she flinched at moved away from him, the pain in his eyes showing from her fear towards him.<p>

He looked away from her.  
>"S-sakura, I-I'm not going to h-hurt you" said Naruto, his voice quiet and husky like a whisper in the dark room.<p>

But Sakura had been to slow to respond as Naruto got off of the bed and left the room silently.


	7. Chapter 7: Quiet

Toshio was awake by the time Sakura was up and about, which was just past dawn – late for ninja standards, though Sai was still fast asleep, which was strange for him.

When Sakura had first realized that Sai was still in bed when any sane ninja would have been awake she went to check on him, having remembered Naruto walking into her room during the night and most likely the rest of Toshio's home, including Sai's room.

Naruto had said that he wouldn't hurt Sakura, but he hadn't said that he wouldn't hurt Sai.  
>After all he wasn't completely Naruto anymore.<p>

Sakura opened to door a bit to look into Sai's room. The bed was a mess of pillows and bed covers and with a large lump in the centre of the bed hidden beneath the covers.  
>Sakura crept towards the lump in the bed and grabbed a handful of the bed covers, preparing herself to rip them off to reveal Sai.<br>Sai could have become ill from Naruto or would Naruto have been hungry enough to drink enough blood to kill Sai?  
>Her heart raced in her ears as she tore the covers off the bed in one quick movement.<p>

Sai flinched where he had been asleep and stared up at Sakura.  
>"Oh, hey Sakura" beamed Sai with another of his trademark smiles.<br>Most _normal_ people would have been annoyed at their bed cover being ripped off them, but Sai, that was another case.

"What are you doing?" asked Sakura, narrowing her eyes at him for making her worry.

"Uh, sleeping, well I was anyway" replied Sai still smiling.

Sakura let out a sigh and dropped the fistful of blanket she held and left the room.

* * *

><p>Sakura didn't tell Sai or Toshio about Naruto coming into her room the previous night. She didn't think it would have gone down with them very well, even though the fact was that Naruto hadn't hurt her.<p>

Toshio had gotten Sai and Sakura together to see Naruto, but upon opening the door they saw Naruto lying on the floor.

"What happened?" asked Sai as Sakura moved past him to check Naruto and Toshio followed behind her, but seemingly looking less worried.

Sakura stood aside as Toshio knelt down beside Naruto's body and examined it.

"He's asleep" said a voice from behind Sai. The three of them turned around to see Natsuno in the door way. Sai immediately stepped back towards where Toshio and Sakura stood beside Naruto's body.

"Natsuno, not you too?" stated the doctor with a tired sigh behind his words.

Natsuno dipped his head to confirm their suspicions.

"B-but you died" stammered Sakura

"I did. But as you can see I am still here" he replied.

The four of them remained silent for a while.

"Your friend, he is a shiki now I take it?" asked Natsuno, jerking his chin to the orange figure on the floor.

Toshio grunted a noise of agreement.

"Do not worry about him. He is only asleep. All shiki are unable to stay awake during daylight hours" it was becoming clear that Natsuno had been spending his time as a member of the un-dead getting information.  
>"The only way to wake him now would be to put him in the sun, but that would kill him" finished Natsuno, still looking calm and serious<p>

"But you died also, that would make you a shiki. How are you still awake?" asked Sai.

"And how did you get in here? Shiki need to be invited inside" pointed out Sakura and Toshio narrowed his eyes a bit.

Natsuno remained where he stood in the doorway, knowing that the closer he was to them the more uncomfortable they would be.  
>"Yes, but I am a different type of shiki," replied Natsuno "There are two types of shiki. Vampire shiki and were-wolf shiki. The vampire shiki are the most common, while were-wolf shiki are capable of being outside during the day and can enter homes without permission and we can feed on more than just blood"<p>

"And why are you here?" asked Toshio firmly, narrowing his eyes further

Natsuno stared to the doctor for a long moment before answering.  
>"The shiki are lead and kept in line by Tatsumi. He is a were-wolf too."<p>

"Tatsumi," interrupted Toshio, "He is the man with the blue hair?" asked the doctor, remembering the night he lost his patient to the large group of shiki. The shiki weren't capable of entering the building but Tatsumi was able to come inside without their permission and took the patient away for the shiki to feed on.

Natsuno nodded.  
>"There are four were-wolves, including me. But Tatsumi is the one who controls all the others. Whenever a shiki has risen from the dead he knows and comes to retrieve them" he looked to Naruto again, "I'm surprised he didn't show up to take your friend away already"<p>

"What does he do after he takes them away?" asked Sakura

"He is the one who tells them about being a shiki and he is the one that forces them to feed upon their first victim" replied Natsuno

"That still doesn't explain why you are here" stated Toshio

Natsuno turned his attention back to the impatient doctor.  
>"I am here because Tatsumi plans to have you killed along with the ninja from the Leaf village. You know too much about the shiki"<p>

"So I take it you're the one who was sent to kill us?" asked Sakura firmly and reaching for a kunai.

"No"

Sakura and Sai paused.

"I came here to warn you. I want these shiki gone before they kill everyone in the village"

"But you are a shiki" stated Sai, relaxing his posture, but Sakura stayed at the ready.

Natsuno nodded.  
>"And I will deal with myself when the time comes for it"<p>

Another moment of silence passed between them.

"And when does Tatsumi plan to kill us?" asked Toshio acting calm and pulling out a smoke for himself.

"He usually sends shiki to do his dirty work, but seeming as you already know not to open the home to anyone chances are he would throw you out so the shiki can attack you freely." Natsuno paused but the doctor remained silent.

Natsuno had talked longer with the three of them, once they had gotten more comfortable around him, about the other shiki. Natsuno confirmed that the only way to kill them is to impale their heart, decapitate their head or to hold them in the sun.  
>From what Natsuno had told them, the shiki are sensitive to the sunlight and burn when exposed to it and that the shiki uncontrollably fall asleep during the daylight hours.<p>

Shortly after their discussions, Natsuno left them. It was midday at that point of time and Toshio had patients to attend to and Sakura offered to help him while Sai was left in the home alone.

He wondered around the home, quietly checking out each room and creating a mental map of Toshio's home and the clinic. But he always found himself drifting back to the room where Naruto lay.

Sai looked at Naruto's body on the cold floor. He looked uncomfortable as if he had just collapsed rather than fallen asleep, so Sai set about making Naruto's sleep more comfortable. He moved his body back onto the metal bench that sat in the centre of the room and used a cushion from the couch as a pillow for Naruto.

Proud with his work of making Naruto, at the least, look more comfortable, Sai headed out into the village to waste away his day.

Walking down the streets main road he saw the villagers.  
>Sai was never the greatest at reading peoples' emotions, but everyone in the village held an emotion of despair on their faces, everyone having been affected one way or another from the shiki – or 'illness' as they thought was causing the deaths.<p>

The sun was beginning to touch the horizon so Sai found a quiet spot to sit and wrote up another report for Tsunade explaining that Naruto had risen from the grave, Hinata was still missing and they were finding more information on the shiki.

"Where have you been?" asked Sakura as Sai entered Toshio's living room.  
>The sun had almost set, so he wasn't dangerously late, though he had probably caused her to worry.<p>

"I sent another report to Tsunade" smiled Sai in return

"I wonder what she thinks of all this" wondered Sakura sadly out loud as she turned her gaze to her feet.

Sai would have replied with the obvious _'she will send a message back'_ but decided against it as he noticed Sakura looked troubled, liked the villagers, so he thought better not to say anything.


	8. Chapter 8: Hunger

Sakura waited that night. She knew either Sai or Naruto was bound to enter her room and sit on her bed – or in Sai's case, crawl into it – so she lay facing the door in the darkness, the only light coming from the hallway.

In the space of light that revealed itself beneath her closed door, she saw two shadows stop opposite her door that resembled feet.

Her door creaked open, letting the light from the hallway spill into her room and Sakura closed her eyes quickly to fake her sleep.

She could hear the familiar footsteps creep closer to her.  
>Her mind became a cruel thing and showed her images of Naruto crossing the room to her with his mouth agape and his fangs readying to pierce her flesh.<br>She wanted to ignore the images her mind tricked her with, but with each step coming closer her mind raced further with the possibility till she opened her eyes to face the on-comer.

Naruto froze when Sakura's eyes shot open.  
>He knew she was awake but the motion had still caused him to freeze.<p>

He knew that he was a monster now.  
>That the closer he got to anyone the more uncomfortable they would get.<p>

But Sakura sat up in her bed and looked to Naruto as though expecting him to move, but he remained frozen to his spot, waiting for something, anything, to happen.

"Naruto" said Sakura softly in the dim room.

Her voice caused Naruto to flinch and he continued to watch her with his black eyes.  
>Sakura shifted as she sat up further till she was in a complete sitting position on her bed an inclined for Naruto to sit beside her on the bed.<p>

Naruto didn't know what to do so he remained where he was, torn between going to sit beside her or running out of her room to curl back in his corner and hate himself further.

Sakura motioned with her hand for Naruto to sit beside her again and this time Naruto cautiously walked towards the bed and carefully sat the same way Sakura did on the other side of the bed.  
>Sitting next to one another, they let a moment of silence pass by before Sakura's questions started in a hushed voice so no one besides Naruto could hear.<p>

"Naruto, where is Hinata?" asked Sakura in her hushed voice without looking to him

"I'm not sure" replied Naruto in an equally hushed voice and looked down to his hands that sat on his lap.

"Was she the one who did this to you?"

Naruto looked to her with a deeply sad expression on his face and nodded.

"Why?" asked Sakura

Naruto shook his head in the dim light that filled the room from the hallway.

"What happened to her?" asked Sakura after another moment of silence had passed

"When we first came here, they found out we were sent from the Leaf village. This was before we knew anything about the risen. I had left Hinata alone just for a while and they attacked her. They wanted to get rid of us because we were a threat. Hinata became sick. I thought it was that illness that had been going around. In the end I sat with her till the end. I didn't know she would become a shiki"

Sakura looked to Naruto, who only looked to his hands, and felt his pain. He had to watch her die by himself. She knew how he felt. Sai and she had to watch Naruto die, without being able to help.

Sakura wanted to ask more but didn't when she saw that Naruto was crying silently.  
>He had hoped she wouldn't notice his silent tears in the dim light, but she did notice and leaned over to hug him.<p>

Sakura's touch surprised him at first.  
>He never imagined she would want to be close to a monster like him now, yet alone hug him.<br>Against his will, his body went rigid under her touch, not knowing what to do with himself.

He could hear something strange in the room. A sound that was usually silent. Like the sound of a deep, methodical drum beat.  
>A heartbeat.<br>He could hear Sakura's heart beating through her body. He could hear her blood pulsing through her with every beat and suddenly he felt himself being drawn to the beating, to what flowed through her body. His mind raced for a meaning as to why he could hear this, why he was drawn to it.  
>He was hungry.<br>He hadn't noticed before just how hungry he was. There was only one thing that would cease his painful hunger. Blood. Somehow he instinctively knew what he was hungry for and what he craved.  
>To any sane person the craving for blood would be odd, but here, it felt natural to want blood so much.<br>Sakura was so close to him. He could so easily reach the blood that flowed through her.

Naruto went rigid again beneath Sakura's touch. She had only been holding him for a few second to comfort him but already his body had gone rigid, then relaxed, then suddenly gone rigid again. Something was wrong.

Sakura released her hold on Naruto and sat back to her original position and observed him, trying to figure out what was the matter.

He remained rigid and stared with open eyes to the wall opposite the bed.  
>"Naruto" Sakura reached a hand towards Naruto slowly, but he flinched so she paused.<br>He turned his head slowly to face her, his black eyes now containing thin red irises that glowed in the dark room and his eyes wide with what resembled fear.  
>Sakura said his name again but he only continued to stare to her. He was starting to freak her out a bit.<br>"Naruto, what's wrong?" she asked softly and slowly bringing her hand back to herself.

Naruto snapped back to attention and blinked for the first time in that short while, his eyes returning to being just black when he opened them again.  
>He stared to her with a more mournful expression and suddenly jumped off her bed and headed for the door, only pausing to look back.<br>"I'm sorry Sakura" said Naruto before he slipped out the door and into the hallway, pulling the door closed behind him to conceal Sakura in darkness again.


	9. Chapter 9: Lost Days

Just letting you all know that this chapter is based during the days Naruto and Hinata were in the village, before Sakura and Sai arrived.

* * *

><p>They had only been in the miserable village for a day investigating the mystery illness that was affecting the villagers and already Naruto was getting bored of it all.<p>

Naruto stood from his seat and lifted his arms high above his head and leaned to one side in a stretch, Hinata watching him the entire time. Once finished with his stretch Naruto let out a satisfied sigh and let his eyes fall to Hinata who watched him curiously.

"I'm going out for a bit" stated Naruto and turned for the door

"Where too?" asked Hinata without moving. She knew there was no point in following him.

"Just for a walk" he replied waving a hand to her before he opened the door, letting in the sound of the rain falling outside, and he closed the door behind him as he left, not caring about getting wet in the rain.

Naruto hadn't known that enemies were closing in on the place they were staying.  
>He hadn't known that the enemy was the dead villagers, the shiki.<br>He didn't know that they were targeted, seen as a threat.

In a sense he was lucky.  
>If he hadn't left their place when he had, it would have been too late to pass without being noticed. And he most likely would have been attacked by many of them rather than just one or two of the blood thirsty shiki of the village.<br>He would have been killed right there and then.  
>But it had been pure luck that he would have left their place when he had.<p>

But Hinata was less fortunate.  
>She should have followed him.<p>

* * *

><p>There was a knock on the door and Hinata, as kind hearted as she was, immediately went to answer it. Standing in the doorway was a young lady with long pink hair tied back into two pony tails, one on each side of her head. Her clothes were soaked through from the night's rain and the pink headed girl smiled to Hinata, but her smile seemed cold and her eyes to dark to read. The girl tilted her head to one side in such a way that it sent a small shiver down Hinata's spine and she suddenly wished that Naruto hadn't left her alone.<p>

"Can I come in?" asked the girl, straightening her head again and attempting a warmer smile.

"Uh" stammered Hinata becoming nervous, but took a second thought when she saw again that the rain had soaked the girl's clothing. Hinata nodded her head and stepped aside for the pink headed girl to enter, closing the door behind her to shut out the rain once again.

"My name is Hinata" stated Hinata friendlily as she shut the door, her back to the girl.

The pink headed girl smiled to herself a sly, self-satisfied smile that presented cruel intent as she approached Hinata from behind.  
>Hinata turned back to face the girl who paused, suddenly closer to her than before.<p>

"My name is Megumi" replied the girl, continuing to smile.

Her smile made Hinata feel even more uncomfortable, a sense that made her want to run to find Naruto, but she had no clue that more people like the pink headed girl before her were just outside, ready to pounce if she left the building.

Before Hinata could respond with a greeting to the girl, Megumi attacked, biting down into Hinata's neck and pushing her back till she was pinned against the door behind her.  
>Hinata wanted to fight back but her body wouldn't respond to her. Megumi released her and she fell to the floor in a heap, still conscious but unable to move or speak. She wanted to call out for Naruto, but no sound escaped her mouth when she tried.<br>Megumi pulled Hinata's body away from the doorway and opened the door to invite in three more people that wore the same black eyes. Setting their eyes on their prey their irises, that were black a moment earlier, glowed an ominous blood red, their pupils being so large that they enveloped most of the iris, causing it to look more like a glowing red ring than anything else.

They approached Hinata, whose heart raced as they came closer, opening their mouths to each reveal a pair of long sharp fangs, ready to pierce her skin, pulling back her sleeves so they could feed without leaving any uncovered marks.

She wasn't even capable of letting out a cry of pain or distress as they sucked out her life.

* * *

><p>The rain had subdued during his walk, but Naruto's clothes were wet enough for the cold to touch his skin. He returned to the small place Hinata and he had been set up to stay in during their time in the village. He stopped at the door and reached into his pockets for the keys and reached for the door handle to use the key then he paused again when he realised the door was already unlocked.<br>He figured that Hinata must have left the door unlocked for when he returned from his walk, so he went inside and shut the door behind him.

The rooms were all dark so he assumed that Hinata had gone to bed so he tried his best to navigate through across the main room without the use of lights so that he did not disturb Hinata whose room was connected to the main room.  
>He held a hand along a wall to navigate himself through the room, stopping when his foot hit something solid on the floor. Without moving his feet, he felt his hand further along the wall till he found the light and flicked it on to find Hinata's body by his feet.<p>

He dropped to his knees to be beside her and lifted her body so he cradled her head in his arms and said her name lightly, slowly getting louder and more desperate with each repeat of her name till she finally stirred.

"Hinata, are you ok?" asked Naruto desperately, eyes still wide as he looked down to her in his arms.  
>She looked up to him through barley open eyes that showed her fatigue. But that's all she did before she closed her eyes again and was silent besides her breathing, Naruto holding her as she fell unconscious, not knowing what was wrong with her.<p>

It was too late in the night for the clinic to be open and Naruto didn't know where the villager's doctor lived, having only arrived to the village recently. He could have left again to search, but no one was out on the streets this time of the night to ask or help, for all they knew it could have been the same mystery illness that had been affecting so many of the villagers.  
>But he didn't want to leave her alone. Not again. If he had stayed maybe things would have been different, maybe he could have been there for her when she fell.<p>

So he stayed there with her. Not moving from where they were. Naruto sitting on the floor with Hinata resting in his arms till she slipped away and fell silent and still and cold; Naruto holding her tighter and letting out his tears when he realised that she had left him forever.

He didn't know that Hinata would come back from the dead; it was the last thing he had ever expected even though he had wished it so many times that day. When morning came and he still held her still body he had to let her go.  
>Her body was taken away to the village's local funeral home so it could be readied to return to the Leaf village, but it would easily be another day or two before she left the village for the Leaf.<p>

He should have sent word to the Leaf's Hokage, but he wasn't in the right frame of mind to report anything in, so instead he spent his time walking around the village with his hands in his pockets, not paying much attention in his mission to figure out the mysterious illness that was plaguing the village.

The second day without Hinata came and went and during the night when everyone stayed indoors, Naruto looked to the place they had shared and had to leave. He walked through the roads of the village, oblivious to the danger of being out after dark. The night was a pleasant warm one, but again luck struck Naruto enough for him to not have been walking towards any of the risen that would attack him in a heartbeat to eliminate the threat of a Leaf ninja.

By the time Naruto returned to the place he had shared with Hinata it was only a couple of hours before sunrise, the risen having left to find suitable shelter from the impending sunrise, so as far as Naruto knew he was still safe for another day.

The next day was one spent slowly refocusing on his mission and asking around the village for hints and even visiting one of the ill and the clinic so he could speak with the doctor, but he was unavailable at that moment so Naruto moved on with his mission without much success.  
>He had never been the best with gathering information.<p>

The night was spent the same as the previous one, Naruto having left for a long walk around the village to avoid being in the place where Hinata had died. He still hadn't sent word to the Hokage but he assured himself that he would first thing the next morning.

He had been walking to close to the border to the surrounding forest and he stood to attention when a figure walked out of the forest several meters before him before turning to approach him.  
>Naruto placed his body into a more defensive position and stood his ground as the figure came closer.<br>In the faint light of the night her saw Hinata stop only feet away from him.  
>She wore the same clothes that she always had and the clothes she had died in, but her clothing was dirtied and slightly torn as though she had been in a battle or something.<br>She paused before him, but her face showed no clear emotion for Naruto to read.  
>Though her expression suggested that she had planned to meet Naruto.<p>

She took a step forward but Naruto didn't shy away. Another step and another till she was close enough to reach her hand out towards his face.

Naruto didn't completely understand what was happening.  
>Hinata had died. He had held her as she died.<br>He wanted to move away, the fact that she had died but still stood before him was daunting enough, but he didn't move, curious as to why she was standing there.

Her fingertip touched his cheek and sent a shiver down Naruto but he held firm and didn't move. Her touch was cold as though she was still dead. The same cold he had felt when she had slipped away from him.  
>Hinata withdrew her touch from Naruto's skin and instead held out her hand as an offering for him to take a hold of it. Naruto looked from her to her hand and back. This was not Hinata. She didn't smile or shy away or even blush, instead she seemed confident in herself.<br>Naruto hesitated for a long moment before he placed his trust in Hinata and silently put his hand in hers. Satisfied she turned, still holding his hand, and lead him away.

Naruto sat on a roof top on the outskirts of the village with Hinata by his side as they watched the stars shimmer against the pitch black of the night.

"What happened to you?" asked Naruto quietly and indicated to her dirtied clothing with a finger.

Hinata looked to him with her black eyes, but made no clear facial expression.  
>"I escaped from the funeral home. I was scared and careless and ran into the forest" replied Hinata and returned her gaze to the stars.<p>

Naruto let a moment of silence pass by before he pushed another question.  
>"How are you –"<p>

"I'm not sure" replied Hinata, answering his incomplete question and he left it at that.

Naruto didn't want to push for to many answers and at the time there was not much else to ask. Besides the obvious.

"What happened?" he asked, holding his own gaze to the stars.

"I was attacked" replied Hinata without any more detail.

Naruto could see out of the corner of his eye that Hinata's gaze had turned to him, but was focused on some place on his upper body. He lowered his gaze to look to her, but she continued to stare to the skin just below his chin.  
>Confused he went to ask what was wrong but froze when her black eyes changed to reveal a glowing red ring in each of her eyes andher breathing sharpened.<br>The hold of her gaze on him was enough to make him feel uneasy and he eventually managed to sort out his thoughts enough to start to ask what was wrong again, but was stopped by Hinata as she leant closer and touched her cold fingers to his neck.  
>Naruto froze under her unnaturally cold touch against his neck and he watched her as she moved closer still.<br>But she paused, the only sound between them being their breaths.  
>Naruto felt his body becoming more relaxed but he went rigid again when Hinata quickly lunged the rest of the distance to his neck and bit down into his flesh, two longer teeth piercing his skin.<br>He wanted to move, but he felt his body going numb from her bite, like poison running through his body. In his panic he lurched his body forward before his entire body fell numb, but the momentum of his jolt was enough to free himself from Hinata and send his numb body forwards and down onto the ground below.


	10. Chapter 10: Wasted Time

The next morning was like the last - minus Sai sleeping in.  
>Toshio left for the clinic, Naruto was shut in his make shift room in his forced sleep, but Sakura stayed back in Toshio's home with Sai instead of giving Toshio a hand in the clinic.<p>

Sai sat in the gazebo outside the back of Toshio's home leaning over a blank canvas. It was a warm sunny day and Sai looked oddly natural in the sunlight and he lifted his head often to look up to a small garden and trees that he was painting at the time.  
>Sakura closed the door to Toshio's home behind her and made her way across the rich green grass to the gazebo where Sai was. She made her way up the steps and sat beside Sai and observed his painting as he continued to ignore her presence.<p>

Sakura had originally thought that his painting was of the small garden and trees, but while observing his art she saw that it was another of his strange abstract pieces that Sakura never really understood but enjoyed.  
>He lifted his head again to observe the garden that somehow became inspiration for his abstract piece before he lowered his head again and painted several more strokes.<br>Sakura turned her attention to the gardens on Toshio's property and observed the arrangement of colours and flowers that made her think of Ino.

"Sakura?" asked Sai as he lifted the brush from the canvas and straightened himself before turning to face Sakura with a questionable expression on his face as though he knew what was on Sakura's mind.

Sakura returned her attention to Sai and smiled to him in appreciation that he had finally noticed her or more, stopped ignoring her.

"Is something on your mind?" asked Sai again, tilting his head slightly and giving a small you-can-trust-me smile.

"Well I uh – " started Sakura hesitantly.

"You know Sakura, you can trust me if there is something you wish to say. I am your comrade now and we must trust each other with our lives" continued Sai still smiling to her, oblivious that Sakura _was_ about to speak.  
>Sai 's smile faltered when he saw Sakura glaring to him.<p>

"Well I was about to speak but you –" her glare finished her sentence for her, "Anyway, well I wanted to speak to you about Naruto" stated Sakura becoming more shy about the conversation and fiddled with her fingers.

"Yes, what about him?" asked Sai, looking more curious to where the conversation was heading.

"Well he….just…..the last couple of nights….i mean since he has become a shiki he….has….well," Sai tilted his head, becoming ever more curious as to what she was wanting to say and as to why it was so difficult for her to say. "he has been…..seeing me…..well I mean, each night he has been," Sai cocked an eyebrow and titled his head to the opposite side, Sakura decided she had to get it out right then before Sai began to think the wrong things, "I mean, that, every night he comes into my room and talks to me" finished Sakura, cautiously looking for any clue as to what he was thinking.

Sai continued to look to her with the same face, only tilting his head back to the other side.  
>"And what is it you both talk about?" he asked.<p>

Sakura let out a long breath and shrugged to him.  
>"Nothing really. He never stays long. Last night I asked him about Hinata but he only said that the shiki attacked her, nothing else, and then he went all funny and left"<p>

"Funny?" asked Sai pulling another questionable face.

"Yeah, he was talking then he went quiet and he just stared at everything like he was scared then he just left in a hurry" replied Sakura letting out another long breath. Sakura left out the bit about the red in his eyes as she wasn't sure if she had seen it or only imagined it or what the red even meant.

Sai didn't reply for a long moment and instead painted a few more strokes on his canvas before he put the brush down again and turned back to Sakura.

"Maybe, he left during your conversation for a good reason" stated Sai. When Sakura looked to him but didn't reply he continued, "Remember that he isn't Naruto anymore. He is a shiki," hearing Sai say such things about Naruto with such little emotion in his voice angered her, but she held it in and listened to him anyway. "And shiki drink blood" his comment was so simple, but made good sense.

Naruto was a shiki, Sakura had let that pass by her earlier when she and Naruto spoke, but in reality, Naruto was a shiki that only fed on blood. As it was, he had already been awake for a couple days and yet he hadn't had a drop of blood.  
>Sakura wondered how long a shiki could go without feeding. They knew that shiki couldn't last <em>very<em> long without blood, but how long?  
>And when they did taste blood they enter a sort of feeding frenzy and drink as much as they can in a sitting.<br>The image of Hinata biting into Naruto's flesh crossed Sakura's mind which left an unpleasant feeling in her gut.

"I'm sure Naruto is starting to get hungry," continued Sai, oblivious to Sakura's thoughts, "And so far the only person he has come into contact with is you." He made another point.

Naruto had probably left her the night before because he _was_ hungry. He had said that he wasn't going to hurt her, but if his thirst of blood is growing he would have to stay away from her to keep that promise or until he fed and then returned to her, but then he would be alright only for another couple of days till the cycle started again.

But she wanted to be certain that that was the reason he had left.

Sai looked to her, waiting for a response.  
>"Yeah, you are probably right. Thanks Sai" she said with a false smile on her face.<p>

Sai continued to look to her, studying her expression. She hoped he couldn't tell that her smile was a false one. If he did he didn't point it out.  
>"Lets go out today" he said suddenly smiling to her again.<p>

"Where?"

"Just into the village. We might see Akira and Kaori again"

Sakura didn't really want to go anywhere.  
>She wanted to wait for a response from the Leaf's Hokage, which usually arrived the day after Sai sent a report to her. The response message was sent via Sai's painted bird, so it wasn't an issue if they moved places because Sai's bird would always find him no matter where he went, but still Sakura was anxious for her reply.<p>

Each of Tsunade's replies so far hadn't held much emotion for Hinata or Naruto and had only asked for them to continue their investigation.  
>Plus, the last report Sai had sent had stated that Naruto had come back from the dead and was now a shiki, and Sakura wanted to know what Tsunade had to say about that.<br>They had explained in previous reports what they knew about shiki, information that could seal Naruto's fate. Tsunade could easily ask for Naruto to be returned to the Leaf village so she could see for herself, but after seeing how Toshio _studied_ them Sakura wasn't sure if she wanted Tsunade to see Naruto like this, even though she knew that Tsunade wouldn't do such things.

"Yeah alright" replied Sakura and stood ready to go.  
>Sai smiled up to her. He knew she needed to get away for a while, so he placed his painting and utensils inside Toshio's home before he and Sakura left for the village.<p>

* * *

><p>They had both decided that their time in the village should still be spent on their mission so they went to visit some of the 'ill' people who had been targeted by the shiki.<br>They went to Natsuno's home where he spent the daylight hours so that he didn't scare any of the villagers that still thought he was dead, but he didn't have any new information to give them.

"Why don't we check out the house where Hinata and Naruto stayed while in the village" offered Sakura.

"But we do not know where that is" replied Sai, making another point

"It shouldn't be that hard. I'm sure some villagers would know" replied Sakura remaining optimistic.

They had turned around to head back towards the village's main road when a voice called out to them.

"Sai, Sakura!" called Kaori as she approached them with her dog beside her.

"Hello Kaori" said Sai when she reached them and gave her a friendly smile.

"Is something wrong?" asked Sakura

"No, I just saw you both and thought I should come to say hi" she replied with a wide smile and Sai and Sakura relaxed.

"Hey, Kaori, you wouldn't by any chance know where the other two ninja from the Leaf village had been staying?" asked Sakura, getting her hopes up, but felt a bit disheartened when Kaori looked confused.  
>"You know the boy in the orange clothes and a girl with purple eyes" tried Sakura with less enthusiasm.<p>

"Oh them, they were staying in the cursed house" she replied joyfully

"Cursed house?" asked Sai looking down to the girl

"Yeah, everyone calls that house cursed because the last three tenants have all died, your friends included. No other home has had so many deaths occur from the shiki" replied Kaori.

Kaori led them through the village and past a field of crops before they reached a small group of homes. Out of the group of six homes that sat on either side of the road, Kaori stopped in front of the closest house and announced that it was the house the ninja had stayed in.  
>Happy that she had done something to help them she said farewell and headed off back towards the main part of the village followed by her dog as she went.<p>

The house was similar to many of the others homes throughout the village. They were small and simple homes, usually dull browns and greens and even dull grey-oranges that made the village like no other. The windows were covered by the houses curtains and the small garden out the front had begun to sprout weeds. Whoever the owner of the house was hadn't been caring for it since the last tenants' deaths.

They approached the house and went to test the door but found that the door was already unlocked so they went inside, leaving the door open behind them.

"Why would it be unlocked?" queried Sakura out loud as she examined the main room, but Sai remained silent as he too examined the room.  
>Sakura set to work opening the curtains to let in the natural light and Sai pointed out blood soaked into the carpet that looked to have been there for some time.<br>They made their way further into the home and into one of the room that connected to the main room. The room was a simple bedroom with a familiar lump on the ground that resembled a bag. Making their way to the bag they opened it and pulled out the contents to discover that the bag had belonged to Naruto and another bag in another room belonged to Hinata.  
>There was no doubt that this was the place they had stayed at during their mission, but they must have left in a hurry or expectantly to have left their bags behind and the blood that Sai had pointed out most likely belonged to either Hinata or Naruto.<p>

They left the house with Hinata's and Naruto's bag and closed the door after them and entered the street again, halting when a man approached them.  
>He was a young and fit looking man who wore long pants and a sleeveless top with matching colours that appeared dull compared to his bright blue spiked hair that had two slightly darker blue triangle shaped spikes of hair that stood out like animal ears on either side of his head.<br>The man looked like he defiantly didn't belong in the village.

"Yo" he said joyfully as he approached them with a one handed salute and his other hand in his pocket.  
>"Name's Tatsumi" he finished with a smile before them and lowered his other hand to his pocket.<p>

Sakura and Sai knew exactly who Tatsumi was.  
>He was the lead were-wolf that led the shiki from the village.<br>He was the one who had planned the attack in Hinata and Naruto.  
>And he was the one who wanted to eliminate them both and Toshio.<p>

But Sakura and Sai ignored that information and played dumb for the time being, it was possible that Tatsumi didn't come there to attack them. But there was no doubt that their Leaf ninja headbands gave away their identities.

"So I noticed you were snooping around in one of my houses" stated Tatsumi, giving an over-confident smile.  
>Sakura and Sai held their tongues.<br>The fact that he had said 'his house' meant that he was the one who rented it out to the people who were attacked by the shiki including Naruto and Hinata.  
>"I know you knew who was the house last," continued Tatsumi looking more smug with every moment that passed, "The girl has become quiet helpful, but the boy…not too sure where he is. Say, you wouldn't happen to know where he is would you?"<br>He was talking about Hinata doing his dirty work and he wanted Naruto too. Sakura so badly wanted to hit him with everything she had, but had to hold herself back.  
>Surprisingly it was Sai who acted out.<br>Sai ran forward and slashed at Tatsumi with a kunai, but Tatsumi had animal reflexes and leapt out of the way, landing several meters away from them and laughed to Sai's attempt.

"Well, I take that as you do know where the boy is" smiled Tatsumi slyly before he turned and left with a wave.  
>Sakura walked up to be beside Sai and placed a light hand on his shoulder.<p>

"I'm sorry Sakura, now he knows where Naruto is" he said looking to where Tatsumi stood earlier.

"He may not know exactly where he is. He most likely knows that Naruto is with us, but as long as we are careful he won't find Naruto. And I'm sure Naruto wouldn't go with him" replied Sakura, remaining optimistic and giving Sai a comforting smile.

* * *

><p>Having arrived back at Toshio's home they received a reply from the Leaf's Hokage.<p>

_Sakura and Sai, you are both doing well and I am sorry to hear about Hinata and Naruto. These shiki creatures sound to be a problem that must be dealt with. I would like you both to remain in the village and aid the villagers to rid of the shiki and to eliminate the problem.  
>As for Naruto, keep an eye on him and if he harms anyone you have my order to eliminate him.<br>I am sorry if it comes to that, but it is your duty to eliminate these shiki creatures, including Naruto.  
>I will send a backup squad to you if needed.<em>

Sakura and Sai looked to one another with grave faces, not willing to think about Naruto and Hinata's fates.


	11. Chapter 11: Missing No More

Sakura had been lying in her bed for hours now in the dark and silence of Toshio's home.  
>Naruto hadn't come in yet during the night like he had over the previous nights which worried Sakura a bit. And the words from Tsunade's reply message still ran through her head that the fact was that they had to eliminate the shiki to stop them from killing others, including Naruto.<br>Though Tsunade hadn't mentioned directly that Naruto would have to be eliminated due to the fact that he was now a shiki and had the potential to spread the shiki species by killing others, she had ordered Sai and Sakura to kill Naruto if he was to harm anyone.

The order was understandable, but Sakura couldn't imagine herself going through with killing Naruto.  
>They had been team 7 together.<br>He had been the one that remained with her after Sasuke left.  
>He was the one who desperately gave his all to keep his promise to her.<br>There was too many memories between them for her to take his life away.

Sai would have to be the one to do it.  
>She couldn't.<br>Sai hadn't known Naruto as long and he never had a good handle on emotions so if Sai couldn't do it she didn't know what they could do.

Light footsteps caught Sakura's attention and she sat up in bed to watch the shadows of feet passing by the space beneath her door.  
>She knew they were Naruto's feet but unlike previous nights, he just walked past the door without even hesitating.<br>As his light footsteps faded further down the lit hallway Sakura pulled herself out of her bed and opened her door to the hallway letting the light stream into her room behind her.

He was already far enough ahead for her to only see his shadow exit the hall way and enter into the living room. Sakura made her way to the end of the hallway and stopped to peer around the corner to view the living room and to watch Naruto as he approached the back door of Toshio's home.

Naruto pulled back the heavy chocolate curtains and stared through the glass door into the night garden at the back of Toshio's home. For a moment Sakura thought he was about to leave when he unlocked the back door and opened it a small amount, but she relaxed more when he took a step back from the doorway and continued to watch into the night.  
>A hand came through the small space of open door and pulled slid the door open fully before the figure of a shiki entered the room and stood before Naruto in a silent staring contest.<br>Sakura's heart raced a little knowing that Naruto had just let an enemy shiki into the house meaning that it could attack any of them freely now.

"What do you want?" asked Naruto in a firm yet slightly nervous voice, but he remained standing tall against the other figure.

The dark figure standing opposite him stretched out an arm and reached for Naruto's face with her fingers, but Naruto stepped back at the slightest touch.

"Naruto, I'm sorry this happened to you" said Hinata in a quiet voice as she brought her hand back to her chest.  
>Naruto remained silent and only stared down to her looking slightly angered.<p>

"Why?" asked Naruto firmly

"N-Naru" stammered Hinata nervously

"Why?" ordered Naruto more firmly

Hinata played with her hands and looked nervously to anywhere but Naruto.  
>"I'm sorry Naruto, if I hadn't someone else would have and Tatsumi would have you. And you….you"<p>

"I know," replied Naruto, lowering his head and shaking it slightly, "I know. I let you drink my blood. But I never knew that this would happen" finished Naruto finally locking eyes with Hinata.

Sakura was shocked.  
>Naruto had <em>allowed <em>Hinata to drink his blood even if they didn't know such a thing would happen to him because of it.  
>But Sakura guessed that, like Natsuno had said before, they enter a sort of feeding frenzy and can drink too much blood. They knew that Hinata had visited him for his blood almost every night and drank faster than his blood could replenish as thus killing Naruto, but why hadn't she stopped when she could see that Naruto was becoming ill from her?<p>

"Naruto, let's leave" stated Hinata almost in a hurry and grabbed one of Naruto hands and held it between her own and looked to him pleadingly.  
>Naruto only looked down to her, a bit taken aback by her sudden statement.<br>"We can leave here; leave the other shiki and Tatsumi before he finds you. We can live forever like this" she sounded almost close to tears though her black eyes showed no sign of any tears forming.

Naruto ignored her comments about leaving together – whether he intended to or not.  
>"Who is Tatsumi?" he asked, leaving his hand between Hinata's.<p>

"He is a werewolf," replied Hinata, "He is the leader of the shiki," Naruto's legs began to tremble, "He orders us to kill certain people, to make them shiki and if we don't do what he asks then he kills us by putting the ones who disobeyed him in the sun when they sleep"  
>Naruto stumbled forward and Hinata let out a gasp and caught him.<p>

"Naruto" said Hinata as she pushed Naruto back to his feet. "Naruto, you haven't fed yet have you?" asked Hinata lowering her head to meet Naruto's gaze as he slumped his head from exhaustion.

He shook his head without lifting it.  
>Hinata stood straight and quickly looked around the room, missing Sakura, as she glanced for anyone edible for Naruto the feed from.<br>While she continued to glance around the room Naruto lifted his head to look to Hinata's bare skin.  
>He was so hungry.<br>Hinata noticed that he was looking to her and met his glowing red gaze and was about to speak before he lunged at her.

He moved so quickly that Sakura flinched when he crossed the short distance between him and Hinata to sink his new fangs into the flesh of her neck, but Hinata remained standing and looked as best she could to Naruto with her hands by her side.

"Na-Naruto" she stammered in a panic, but Naruto didn't hear her, he was too hungry, but he was getting nothing from Hinata that could cease his hunger for blood. Her blood was cold and lacked what he craved and for some strange reason it frustrated him so much that several tears ran off his face.  
>He knew now that this meant he could <em>only<em> feed off living humans which meant he would have to hurt someone to get to their blood.

"Naruto, there's no point in biting me. My blood won't stop your pain and hunger" said Hinata in a softer, more confident voice and Naruto released her, taking a step back till he stood in his original position.  
>"You need blood from someone living" stated Hinata looking to Naruto with sympathy.<p>

"Why, why does it have to be someone living?" asked Naruto, his voice light and shaky, "why not from each other or other shiki or even animals?"

"Naruto" said Hinata sadly as she looked at Naruto's now black eyes and could only imagine his pain and confusion.  
>She had had the same thoughts when Tatsumi had explained it to her, but all that felt like a lifetime ago, to long ago to recall.<br>"We cannot take the blood from other shiki because we are shiki ourselves. The blood from a shiki just doesn't work and, I don't know why, but animal blood can't do it either"

"So only human blood" stated Naruto lowering his head again entering a train of deep thought that Hinata patiently didn't interrupt.

Sakura hated listening to their silence and wanted to go to Hinata and demand answers from her, but didn't move when Naruto finally lifted his head again to speak.

"Hinata, we need to kill them"


	12. Chapter 12: First Taste

For a moment Sakura thought Naruto meant to kill people, Sai, Toshio and her, but things became clearer as they spoke further.

"Kill who?" asked Hinata with wide eyes and some shock

"The shiki. All of them" replied Naruto with determination clear in his voice, something Sakura hadn't heard for a long time.

"All of the shiki? But what about Tatsumi?"

"Him as well" replied Naruto with a nod

"But, but Tatsumi is a werewolf. He's much more powerful than us and we're dead, we have no chakra to help. And all he has to do is wait for the sun to come up then throw us outside" stated Hinata trying to make a point about how much of a bad idea Naruto was having, but as stubborn as he was, he wasn't listening.

"She's right" said Natsuno as he walked through the still open back door and stood off to the side of Hinata and Naruto with his hands in his pockets.

Naruto and Hinata looked to Natsuno silently and waited for him to say more. It appeared that they both had met Natsuno before.  
>"For you to be able to compete with a werewolf you would need to drink blood. You are already against that and are close to starvation because of not feeding. But to compete with a werewolf you would have to drink the equivalent of three people in one night, which is impossible for a shiki to do in just one night and if Tatsumi was to drink blood himself the amount of blood you would need would double" finished Natsuno.<p>

Naruto dropped his shoulders and let out an exhausted sigh.  
>"Then how can we kill all the shiki?" asked Naruto, lifting his shoulders again.<p>

"You would have to get more people involved in the hunt. The remaining villagers should be enough, but it's a suicide mission from the start" replied Natsuno, shifting positions to rest his back against a wall.

"How is it a suicide mission?" asked Hinata

"Well, besides Tatsumi, we are all shiki and in order to eliminate _all_ the shiki that means us also"

"But – "started Hinata

"No, he's right. If we live then we need blood to survive which means we will be killing people to get the blood and therefore creating more shiki" stated Naruto, without looking to Hinata, instead, keeping his gaze firmly on the young werewolf.

With that said Natsuno nodded his head and stood back up straight and left Toshio's house.

"I should be going to" stated Hinata becoming shy again, "otherwise Tatsumi might find you"

Naruto nodded her farewell and watched her leave before closing the door and locking it behind her. Naruto turned back towards the hallway and Sakura hid behind the wall and waited for him to come.

He entered the hallway and paused when he noticed Sakura but remained silent.  
>Naruto went to take a step to continue walking down the hallway when Sakura spoke.<br>"Hey, Naruto, can I talk to you?" asked Sakura trying to be quiet as they were just outside of Sai's bedroom door.  
>Naruto didn't reply but followed Sakura as she walked past him and led him back to her room to speak to him without having to worry about waking Sai.<br>Once they were in the room Sakura quietly closed the door behind them and they stood for a silent moment staring to one another in the dim light of the room.

Sakura took in a breath and let it roll from her mouth as a sigh before she spoke again still in a hushed voice.  
>"You don't really think you can take out all the shiki" Sakura sounded almost disbelieving but Naruto's firm expression didn't shift.<p>

A moment passed and Naruto didn't respond to her, "Naruto" she hissed getting frustrated with him and his silence.

"Yes" he responded firmly and simply, seemingly frustrated at himself about something.

"And how do you expect to do that?" asked Sakura agitated at his stubbornness.  
>"Naruto, how?" hissed Sakura again for his slowness to answer – not that she gave him enough time to answer anyway.<p>

Naruto saw that she was frustrated at him so he softened his expression and relaxed his posture more.

"And while your starving yourself?" asked Sakura in a still disbelieving but softer voice.  
>Naruto looked up to her a bit taken aback by her simple question.<p>

"Look, Sakura," started Naruto shaking his head slightly as he looked to his feet, "I don't want to drink anyone's blood," he looked up to Sakura again who had moved closer to him when he hadn't been looking, "I-I don't want to hurt anyone" he finished looking miserable.

Sakura took another step closer to him which put Naruto on edge a bit more, but he didn't step away and she took another step closer till she was close enough for him to feel her breath.

"uh, Sakura" started Naruto getting nervous, not so much for her being too close to him, but more that he was starving and he didn't want to wait and see if he could trust himself with her being close. He didn't want to break his promise to her.  
>But she kept stepping closer till Naruto had to take a step back with every step she took forward. His eyes grew wide and the whole time she was close enough for him to hear her heart beat and feel the warmth of her body pressing against him, to close for his comfort and his new, strong, shiki instincts were screaming at him to taste her blood.<p>

They crossed the distance of the room still taking a step back for every step forward till the back of Naruto's heel hit the edge of Sakura's bed and he stumbled backwards so that he lay on his back on the bed and sat up on his elbows ready to scramble further back if Sakura continued to move forward. But instead Sakura stopped so that she stood by the edge of the bed and looked down to Naruto who watched her nervously.  
>Seeing that he was nervous she slowly sat herself down beside him and lifted an upturned wrist before his nose.<br>Naruto froze for a moment and looked from her wrist that she had presented to him to her face as she stared down to him with no clear emotion to her face. Naruto propped himself up further with his elbows and leant further away from her upturned wrist that smelt of her and pulsed with her blood.

"Sakura – " started Naruto in a shaky voice.

"Naruto," cut in Sakura, "drink" she said flatly holding her wrist up closer to Naruto's mouth and he strained his neck back to keep as far as he could from her warm skin.

Naruto couldn't speak but managed to shake his head desperately for her to move her wrist away. He wasn't strong enough to move his body further away. He wasn't strong enough to trust opening his mouth to even protest or speak.  
>He was too hungry and his body screamed for him to feed, but he fought as best he could against it - which considering how his body was frozen in place, wasn't very strong.<p>

He continued to shake his head desperately to her and held his mouth firmly shut to distract himself and when that form of distraction began to weaken in a matter of seconds he resorted to closing his eyes and replaying tunes in his mind, but even that distraction began to break down after several seconds.

The scent of Sakura's skin, the warmth of her body and the continuous hum of blood beneath her skin was far to overpowering to his senses for him to shut out.

He opened his black and red ringed eyes to look to her pleadingly, but Sakura held firm and moved her wrist closer till his lips were almost touching her skin.  
>This was it. He couldn't hold himself back anymore.<br>He parted his lips and closed his eyes tightly, giving one last wish for Sakura to move away from him, but she didn't.  
>He drew out his fangs and opened his mouth slowly wider and lifted a gently hand to hold Sakura's wrist in place.<br>As his sharp fangs drew closer and his grip grew tighter from his desire both to and not to bite her Sakura's breathing grew sharper and her heart rate increased with both adrenaline and panic with letting Naruto bite her, the same thing he had done for Hinata and with the same strong possibility that she would share the same fate as Naruto.

She let out a brisk breath when Naruto's teeth pierced her flesh and she felt the numbness from his bite crawl up her arm and spread to her body, but Naruto had thought ahead about the numb sensation and used his other hand to lower her slowly to the bed while not releasing his bite from her upturned wrist. Naruto then repositioned himself so he sat up on the bed while Sakura lay on her back and looked to the ceiling as he fed on her blood.

She could feel her body growing weaker with every drop Naruto drank. She could see from his face that he hated himself for feeding from her, but at the same time he needed it, even though he never would have admitted it and Sakura felt bad for making him drink her blood. She could see his pain written in his eyes even as he held them close and droplets of water had begun to form in their corners.

He tightened his grip on her wrist for a brief moment. Usually Sakura would have flinched from the quick pain, but to her it felt like a small amount of pressure that tingled like a pins and needles sensation and after a moment Naruto relaxed his grip around on her wrist after realising that he had tightened his grip to begin with.

To Naruto the sensation of warm blood passing down his throat was better than the first taste of ramen. It tasted so good that he wished he could go on forever, but he was losing his sanity the longer he held onto Sakura's blood. He struggled to remember whose blood he was drinking belonged to and where he was.  
>He had to let go. He knew he did, but it was like his jaw refused to relax. He had the strength to rip his head away from her flesh but that would result in him ripping her skin and causing her more harm.<br>He held his eyes tighter and stopped himself from taking more blood, but still his jaw refused to release its hold on Sakura and it was only seconds before he craved the taste of her blood in his mouth again. He needed to move fast before he couldn't resist drinking more.  
>He opened his eyes when Sakura let out a soft, weak moan from her fatigue and Naruto watched her roll her head to the side and close her eyes. And only in that moment of seeing what he had inflicted on her, his jaw relaxed from his guilt and his sanity returned enough for his to remove his fangs from her wrist.<br>Naruto sat back and held a tight grip around her wrist and the bite marks he had inflicted on her and watched her fall asleep from her exhaustion. After a moment had passed Naruto laid Sakura's limp arm down beside her and watched her with pain filled eyes till the night crossed over to the early morning.


	13. Chapter 13: Guilt and Dreams

Sakura opened her eyes to view her dimly lit room. The sun had not yet risen to declare the morning but she could tell that it was past midnight already and the room was lit well from the light that streamed in from the open door to her bedroom from the lit hallway.  
>Sakura blinked her eyes several times to allow her eyes adjust to the new lighting and the pillow beneath her head shifted.<br>Naturally she would have jumped in reaction to her pillow moving but her reflexes were slow and she already knew that her head was resting on Naruto's abdomen as he sat up in her bed and closed his eyes to rest while Sakura had fallen asleep beneath the safety of the bed covers.

Sakura let out a comfortable but tired sigh and gazed to the open doorway and studied the white walls of the hallway and wondered if she had left the door open earlier or if Naruto had been the one to open it.  
>She blinked once and the white walls were a mix of red and white. Red smears and splatters of blood covered the former white wall and gave the hallway an ominous red glow that reminded her of Naruto's red ringed eyes when he tasted her blood.<p>

Surprisingly Sakura kept her head against Naruto's resting body and studied the blood across the hallway walls but she didn't react. She studied it like it was the most normal thing in the world to see and like it didn't demand any more of her attention.  
>She blinked again and a figure stood in the door way leaning against the open door frame. Tatsumi smiled slyly over to Sakura from where he stood with blood covered lips and hands and his blue spiked hair stood out against the red and white surroundings.<br>Tatsumi's presence put Sakura on edge but she didn't move or react.

Sakura moved her gaze to look straight ahead, across Naruto's abdomen and blinked again. When she opened her eyes Hinata was lying on the other side of Naruto with her head on his abdomen just as Sakura was lying.  
>Hinata matched Sakura's gaze and a twisted smile crossed Hinata's face and Tatsumi laughed in the background.<br>Hinata parted her lips to reveal each and every one of her teeth sharpened like fangs and she let out an equally twisted giggle before she lunged for Sakura.

* * *

><p>Naruto felt Sakura jump in her sleep and his eyes shot open and he jumped himself from Sakura's sudden movement.<br>After her jump she settled back into sleep beneath her bed covers that Naruto had moved her to after she fell unconscious from letting him drink her blood.  
>She slept on her side with her back to him, her short pink hair messed from her sleep and a hand rested on her pillow before her face as she slept peacefully again.<br>Naruto relaxed again and rested his head against the wall behind him from his upright sitting position on Sakura's bed.

The sun would rise in a couple hours and Naruto closed his eyes to rest but he remained incapable of sleep.  
>He felt better, more capable, more alive from Sakura's blood. All in all he felt a lot better, but he knew it was the beginning of the end. He had tasted the richness of blood, the food of the shiki and the life force of the living human and he knew that he will crave more and now that he had tasted blood he would find it difficult to resist it the next time he craved it.<p>

He opened his eyes again to observe the room for the 11th time that night. He wanted the sun to come so he would fall asleep and wake when the sun set at the end of the day. To him the twelve hours of sunlight past like they were only a couple minutes if not less. It never felt like enough time to rest but he couldn't say that he didn't fell like he hadn't been resting.  
>But the sooner the sun rose, the sooner this guilty night would end and the sooner he could awake again and the closer he would be to finally taking down the shiki and Tatsumi, even if he did need the help.<br>So far it was clear that Natsuno was with him on the plan to rid the village of all the shiki even if it meant suicide for them in the end and Hinata wouldn't take much persuasion to join him.  
>Same story with Sakura and Sai and maybe even Toshio, he was sure they would want to join in on the shiki hunt.<p>

Naruto, knowing that most non-shiki creatures were diurnal, needed to leave a message for Sakura and the others for them to see in the morning.  
>He crept off of the bed, careful not to move to quickly for Sakura to notice in her sleep and exited her room to search the house for paper.<br>Over the previous few nights he had explored at least half of Toshio's home, needless to say not the half of the house that contained Toshio's bedroom as Naruto had no real desire to run into Toshio in the middle of the night, not after having Toshio inject and slice at him when he had first re-awoken from death.  
>He eventually found paper in a desk draw and went back to Sakura's room. He wrote what he needed to on the sheet of paper and placed it on a bedside table beside Sakura's bed.<p>

To waste away another hour Naruto took the step forward to explore the other side of Toshio's home, avoiding opening any closed doors that may enter to Toshio's room. If Toshio was to awake and Naruto was by his door, he would most likely think the worst case scenario and act impulsively to defend himself or at least that was what was running through Naruto's mind, though Toshio wasn't really an impulsive man.

After completing his mental map of Toshio's home – not including the rooms with shut doors for the obvious reasons – he made his way back to Sakura's room.  
>He stood by the end of her bed and watched her sleep for a short while, just watching her body rise and fall as she slept and he noted that she looked slightly pale from her blood loss which just refreshed his feeling of guilt.<p>

When the sun was only an hour away from rising he felt the first signs of tiredness come over his body and his shiki instincts ordered him to find someone out of reach of the sun's rays to sleep the day away.


	14. Chapter 14: Notes

The knocking on the door woke Sakura from her sleep. She had been sleeping for a most of the night but she felt tired and sluggish and didn't attempt more than opening her eyes.  
>Sai gave up with knocking on Sakura's door and instead entered her room and approached her bed where she lay staring at the ceiling.<br>It wasn't clear if she had noticed him standing by the edge of her bed so he leaned over to look straight down to her and her eyes finally met his. He noted that her skin looked pale and her reaction time was sluggish, but besides from that she just looked dead tired.

"Are you alright?" he asked cocking his head to the side a little and standing back to his full height.  
>Sakura looked to him with tired eyes and forced her body into a sitting position to avoid making what she did the night before too obvious and ensuring that she kept her arm that held Naruto's bite mark hidden away from sight beside her body.<p>

She nodded her head to him with a smile and struggled to keep her eyes open, but Sai didn't look convinced but never the less he sent a fake smile her way and left her room to let her get up and ready for the day.  
>Sakura staggered out of the bed and changed, not bothering to pick up her pyjamas, that sat scattered over the floor, or to make her bed. She noticed that Naruto had left her room during the night and she paused when passing by the mirror in her room and saw how tired and pale she looked from only one night with Naruto and his growing hunger for blood.<p>

Sakura eventually left her room and, with her hands covered with her wrist length black gloves she usually wore during combat, straightened herself with some effort before entering the living room of Toshio's home where Sai sat comfortably on the couch studying the village's local newspaper.  
>Sakura, with some effort, sat herself, slowly, down onto the couch by Sai and accidently let a tired sigh escape her but covered it up by speaking to Sai.<p>

"Any more attacks?" asked Sakura, leaning closer to peer over his shoulder.

"Six more people have died this week already' replied Sai without removing his eyes from the paper and Sakura sat back into the couch and dared to close her eyes for a moment.  
>She was surprised and wondered if how fatigued she felt now was how Naruto had felt when Hinata fed off of him.<br>She was still shocked after hearing that Naruto had _let_ Hinata do this to him, although in his defence he probably didn't know he would die from it, but then again, she wasn't acting much different than he had for Hinata.  
>Maybe she would be the next to die the same as Naruto and at the hands<em> of<em> Naruto.  
>The thought sent a shiver down her spine.<p>

"I _said_, are you alright?" asked Sai sounding a bit annoyed, but only very lightly.

It hadn't occurred to Sakura that Sai had been speaking to her and she shot upright and looked to him as he stood before her.

"Yes I'm alright, just tired. Didn't get much sleep last night is all" replied Sakura giving him a deliberate tired smile followed by a forced yawn.

"Was it Naruto again?" asked Sai tilting his head slightly and for a moment she thought he knew but remembered their earlier discussion at the gazebo outside.

"Yes, but he didn't stay long again" replied Sakura, which wasn't a complete lie.

"What did you both talk about this time?" asked Sai though he didn't sound genially concerned.

"Hinata again" replied Sakura getting to her feet and ensuring that her gloved hand that held Naruto's bite was held behind her, away from Sai's detailed eye.

"And?" pushed Sai

"He didn't say much again" replied Sakura forcing herself to look more disappointed than she was. She really wanted to know what happened to Hinata, why Naruto never reported it to Tsunade, when he figured it all out and when he began to let Hinata feed off him.  
>So her show of disappointment wasn't completely false either.<p>

Sai looked Sakura over quickly, but more in a concerned manner than anything purvey – if he had looked her over as to check-her-out, she would have hit him so hard that he would wish he were dead.  
>But after looking her over he glared at something in the distance and turned to head off back outside to the gazebo, most likely to work on another painting. Usually he would have mentioned something about going out into town again, but he seemed more than happy to leave Sakura alone, and who needed to work when the deaths were reported in the papers for the whole village to see.<p>

Sakura headed back to her room and went to collapse on the unmade bed but stopped when she saw a sheet of paper resting on her bedside table. She picked it up and immediately picked Naruto's hand writing.

_I need to speak to Toshio  
>and I'm sorry Sakura<em>

She screwed up the note in her hand and went to the room Naruto stayed in. She opened the door and was hit in the face with the eerie clinical smell that wafted through sterile operation rooms, she never did get use to that smell.  
>Naruto lay in his uncontrollable sleep on the bench that Sai had made into a make shift bed for him. She watched him for a long moment, but his chest did not rise and fall like a sleeping person, instead Naruto looked dead.<br>She dropped the screwed up note from him in a bin in the corner of the room and then went to Naruto's side. She stretched out a hand to touch his neck and drew it away to moment she felt his cold skin. She knew his body had no warmth but it was so inhuman that she couldn't manage to touch it more than a second without her own body felling the cold creep through her own body.  
>She let out a sigh and left the room again to find Sai.<p>

Her eyes sighted movement outside and she turned her head just in time to see one of Sai's painted birds fly away holding a written scroll.

Sakura stepped outside and spoke as she walked closer to the gazebo where Sai stood as he watched his painted bird fly away.  
>"Who's the message too?" she asked as she too watched the bird fly off into the distance.<p>

"Tsunade. Just informing her of the further deaths and that Naruto drank your blood"

Sakura froze, eyes wide.  
>"What? Naruto and I spoke last night. He didn't bite me!" retorted Sakura, rage filling her. It felt as though Sai had betrayed her. Betrayed Naruto. They were his team mates and he betrayed them both.<br>The order was that if Naruto hurt anyone he was to be killed, but he hadn't hurt her. She wanted him to take her blood. It wasn't like Naruto wanted too.

"You can't hide it Sakura" replied Sai calmly and he stepped off the gazebo to approach Sakura.  
>"Your skin is pale, you are tired and I saw the note he left on your bed side table this morning," he reached Sakura and gently grabbed her hand that held Naruto's fang marks and pulled off her glove lightly as though proof that he knew it was there.<br>He looked to the two red spots on her wrist with heavy eyes for a long silent moment, before letting go of Sakura's hand.  
>"What I don't understand is why you didn't tell me. I'm sorry, but Tsunade needs to know it's our duty" for once there was clear emotion in Sai's voice as he spoke.<br>It was clear that he didn't want to inform Tsunade because he knew the likely outcome for Naruto also, but he was right that it _was_ their duty.

The both stood in silence for a long moment, neither daring to look to the other.

"Sai, I was going to tell you but not right away" said Sakura still looking away and Sai responded with an understanding grunt.  
>"Where is Toshio?" asked Sakura daring to look up to Sai and he looked back to her.<p>

"He went out early this morning. Something about the death records being rejected" replied Sai, taking a gentle hold of Sakura's arm and leading her back up to the gazebo.

* * *

><p>"What do you mean no one is in?" cried Toshio with frustration to the janitor.<br>He knew it wasn't the janitors fault, but he was the only person in the records building in the village to speak to.

"I'm sorry sir, but their hours have been changed and they are only open during night hours" replied the janitor through his scruffy grey moustache and plain circle glasses that only magnified his small squinty eyes.

Toshio let out a sound of frustration before flicking an arm in the air.  
>"Fine. I will be back later then" he called back as he walked out of the building and back into the street.<br>Outside he straightened his posture as a weak attempt of a stretch and stared over the fields of crops as the sun shone brightly.  
>"Damn shiki," cursed Toshio, "They planned this from the beginning" and with that said to himself Toshio turned and lit a smoke as he headed back through the village to his clinic, stopping at patients' homes on the way which ended up taking up most part of the day.<p>

* * *

><p>"Toshio!" cried Sakura when she saw him enter his home, slap some documents onto the kitchen counter and hunch his shoulders.<p>

Sakura and Sai had been waiting in the living room for Toshio to arrive back to the clinic for hours now. Naruto wanted to speak to him and it wasn't long till the sun set, less than an hour at the most.

"Yeah, what is it?" asked Toshio as he looked over to them from where he stood with his hands in his white coat pockets.

"We need to talk to you about Naruto" replied Sakura as she stopped close to him

"And Hinata and Sakura" finished Sai appearing close behind Sakura.

Toshio let out an exhausted sigh and went over to the couch and let his body fall back into it.  
>"Alright, what about them?"<p>

Sakura explained everything she had heard and seen the previous night and Sai filled in on the blanks from that morning, but Toshio didn't look shocked or surprised.  
>He beckoned for Sakura to come closer and he inspected the bite marks on her wrist.<p>

"You know he will be able to control you know" commented Toshio, releasing Sakura's wrist.

"What?" replied Sakura.  
>She had totally forgotten that the bitten do whatever the biter says.<br>She had just voluntarily made herself a slave to Naruto. That could end badly.  
>If he wanted more blood, nothing would stop her from going to him if he had asked her to.<p>

Her legs felt weak and she sat down heavily on the couch by Toshio and he studied her carefully.

"Don't worry, you know Naruto wouldn't do anything bad" offered Sai with a small smile in a pathetic attempt to soothe Sakura.

Outside the sun had just set and Naruto would surely wake soon, but Toshio got to his feet and picked up his documents from the kitchen counter.  
>"Alright, I'll be back shortly" he said as he started for the door.<p>

"What, where are you going?," started Sakura, "You can't go outside the shiki will get you and anyway Naruto wants to talk to you"

But Toshio wasn't listening. Instead he just waved them a goodbye without turning and left, only stopping to call out to Sai.  
>"You look out for her!"<br>And then he was gone.  
>Sakura and Sai were speechless. Toshio had just entered the enemy's territory. It was like he was committing suicide.<p> 


	15. Chapter 15: Beginning of the End

Toshio's rage was only increasing in the small work place that only hired shiki workers, or more, turned the current workers into shiki. But none of them gave Toshio, the only living person in the building, a second glance.

"What do you mean no one has died?" ordered Toshio, "Plenty of people have died recently, and I'm the one who writes their death certificates!" exclaimed Toshio with rage as he waved his folder of death certificates in the man's face.

"I'm sorry sir, but our records show that no one has died in this village in the past two months, you must be mistaken" replied the man sincerely, though his eyes glowed red with Toshio being so close from across the front counter.

"Is that so" stated Toshio through gritted teeth.

"Yes" came a feminine voice as Chizuru Kirishiki approached from down the office hallway.

Needless to say, she was a beautiful woman with her long blonde wavy hair, slender figure, large complementary breasts and looks that would get her any man she wanted, but Toshio remained stern, he wasn't fooled by her.  
>She was a Kirishiki, a member of the family that had moved into the large house that was so out of place in their quiet village and she was a member of the family that brought the dreaded shiki into their village.<p>

The sound of her heeled boots that went to her knees was the only sound in the building besides the scribbling from the shiki workers who were doing their jobs on the opposite side of the counter.  
>She wore a very short dress, as always, though the dress was a compliment compared to other 'outfits' she had been seen wearing around the village during the night.<p>

She stopped before Toshio and nodded to the shiki worker that had been dealing with Toshio earlier to return to his work. She looked down to Toshio, her heels giving her the height advantage, and smiled sweetly to him with her dark shiki eyes.

"And what did we do to deserve the attention of the doctor" commented Chizuru with a hint of a giggle.

"It appears someone," he put an accusing tone to the word someone as he spoke, "has been denying the death records in the village" stated Toshio, glaring to the woman.

"Hmmm, is that so," replied Chizuru, with a sly smile and she leaned closer too Toshio's ear. He was afraid but refused to let it show as she spoke.  
>"Do not worry, " she began, "We will not kill you just yet" and with that she swiftly opened her red lips and sunk her fangs into Toshio's neck.<br>She held her fangs to him for a short moment, but did not take any blood. The numbness of her bite crawled through half of his body before she withdrew, drawing the numbness out of his body as she did so.

Toshio quickly drew his hand up to his neck and clenched the two small wounds.  
>"I will see you at your home tomorrow night" she finished and stylishly turned on her heel and walked her way back down the hallway in which she had come, leaving Toshio feeling dazed and slightly confused as to what she had just done to him.<p>

* * *

><p>Naruto had been awake for a while and it was the first time the three of them had been in the same room together for a while.<br>Sakura sat on the couch with her chin resting in her hands that were propped up on her knees as she sat in deep thought, ignoring Sai and Naruto who stood uncomfortably on either of the couch in Toshio's living room.

When Naruto had first come out of his make shift room, Sai had confronted him about feeding off Sakura, too which Sakura was quick to defend, but the confrontation had lasted only several minutes and didn't escalate to greatly, so instead the all remained silent as they waited for Toshio to return from where ever it was he had gone to, and that was if he ever returned at all.

Sai watched Naruto with great interest in every movement he made and Naruto spent his time pretending not to notice Sai staring, often glaring back to Sai childishly as they would have during any other circumstance.

They heard a door hastily slam shut and they all stood to attention as Toshio entered.

"Toshio!" exclaimed Sakura, her voice more surprised than anything else, getting to her feet as he entered his home.  
>He placed his papers down onto the kitchen bench and marched straight over to Naruto, ignoring everyone else and pulled up his sleeve to reveal his bare wrist and held it up to Naruto who looked shocked and took a step back from the doctor.<p>

"Bite me!" ordered the doctor, taking a step closer after Naruto.

"What, no!" replied Naruto, deepening his brow to the man before him.

"I need you to bite me" stated Toshio firmly.

"Toshio what are you doing?" asked Sakura desperately but he continued to ignore her, to fixated on having the blonde shiki bite him.

"No" replied Naruto again

"Bite me"

"Why should I?"

Their tones were escalating into an argument.

"Just do it!"

"I said no already!"

"You don't have to drink any blood, just bite me"

Naruto still refused so Toshio thought of something new.  
>He pulled back his shirt collar and pointed out the two fang marks for them all to see before turning his attention back to the blonde shiki.<p>

"I was bitten by Chizuru," Toshio continued to speak, not giving anyone the opportunity to ask who Chizuru was, "Which means she can control me now, so I need you to bite me. If I'm right, the more recent bite should overcome hers" finished Toshio, holding his upturned wrist to Naruto again, who looked to the man with confusion.

Sakura went to ask, but Toshio continued to ignore them, even ignoring Sai when he did finally ask, instead he went back into the kitchen, returning to stand before Naruto with a knife in his hand.  
>Naruto took a step back, like any conscious person would when faced with an erratic man holding a knife.<p>

"Last chance Naruto, bite me" stated Toshio firmly and pointed the knife towards Naruto.

Sakura went to step forward, but Sai held her back as they both watched witch ever growing concern over Toshio's unpredictable actions.

Naruto shook his head to the man, making his choice clear.

"Fine then, you leave me no choice" replied Toshio darkly and turned the knife on himself, letting it slide across his wrist; hard enough to cut through his skin, but lightly enough not to draw an unwanted amount of blood.

Everyone in the room froze and Toshio held his wrist out towards Naruto again.  
>Naruto's mouth was held open loosely from shock and his jaw trembled from the site of the blood that oozed from Toshio's wound. His black eyes glowed with his red irises and he took a tentative step closer, drawn uncontrollably by the smell of blood.<p>

"Remember Naruto, I only need you to bite me" stated Toshio, but it appeared to him the Naruto hadn't heard him which meant, with blood on offer, he would drink the blood rather than just leave it with a bite. In fact, the scent of blood would only encourage Naruto to feed on more of his blood, which would ruin his plans if he was left looking pale and weak from blood loss.

Sakura and Sai watched, frozen to the spot as Naruto stepped closer still, as though trapped in a trance and Toshio just stood there, allowing the blonde shiki draw closer.  
>Toshio faced them both, "Pull him off me if I ask you to. I can't have him taking too much of my blood" stated Toshio and they both nodded to him weakly, still recovering from the shock of the situation.<p>

Naruto drew his fangs and sunk them into Toshio's bloody wrist.  
>Toshio felt the numbness creep through his arm and spread to his body.<br>If Naruto stayed on him too long, Sai and Sakura would have to intervene. But when the numbness took a hold, Toshio realised a deadly flaw in his original plan. The numbness made it so that he could not speak or call out to the Leaf ninja to remove the shiki if he needed them too, though he hoped they would intervene under their own judgment, and one of them was a medic ninja, which had its advantages besides having someone give him a surprisingly good hand when treating his non-shiki related patients.

But Naruto released his hold on Toshio and the numbness slipped from his body in time for him to regain his footing as the blonde shiki stood before him with bloodied lips from Toshio's self-inflicted wound; Sakura and Sai visibly relaxing.

Silence filled the room and Toshio made his way back to the kitchen to clean his wound and cover it up as best he could to prevent the blonde shiki being attracted to his blood any further.  
>He brought back a damp cloth and handed it to Naruto to wipe the blood off his face with and he sat on the low coffee table opposite the couch, beckoning for the three of them to sit.<p>

Sai and Sakura sat down, Sakura sitting in between both Naruto and Sai once he had cleaned his face and joined them. Once they were ready, Toshio explained to them where he had been earlier in the day and just before and he explained who Chizuru was to them all.

He turned to face Naruto who had been politely listening to his explanations of his actions.  
>"I'm sorry for having put you in such a position, but it needed to be done," he paused but Naruto remained silent, waiting for him to continue, "if I am right than your bite will allow you to control me over Chizuru who said she will visit here tomorrow night" Naruto nodded to him in understanding, but his quietness towards the situation made Sai and Sakura feel a bit on edge, not use to the more quiet side of Naruto.<br>"Now, I heard there was something you wished to speak about with me?" finished Toshio and Naruto nodded.

"I want to help rid your village of the shiki" replied Naruto confidently

"But –"

"Yes I know, that includes me too" cut in Naruto, already knowing what Toshio would have said.  
>Naruto could be thick at times, but never <strong>that<strong> thick.

"Good" replied Toshio after a moment of quiet had passed between the four of them.  
>"Then, I have a plan"<p> 


	16. Chapter 16: Public Displays of Affection

"Ugh, this is killing my wrist" complained Sakura, taking the time to stop what she was writing and twisting her wrist before helping to ease the pain with chakra.  
>Sai on the other hand didn't show any signs of stopping. He was like a writing machine, most likely due to years of painting and drawing which was "all in the wrist" as he would say.<p>

"Naruto has it lucky" commented Sai without looking up from his writing, "he gets to sleep"

"True, but that's only while the sun is up. After that he has to play his part" replied Sakura, returning to her writing once the pain had left her wrist.

After an hour more of continuous writing they had finished their task and Toshio entered the study where they had been working.

"Done?" he asked and observed their work

"Done" replied Sakura with a smile, happy it was over and Sai nodded and smiled over to Toshio, handing him his pile of paperwork.  
>Toshio thanked them both and collected their piles of paperwork, taking them back and placing them down on his kitchen table where they could be seen clearly and he placed other paper work from his desk over the surface of the kitchen table to compliant the pile of papers he had received from the two ninja.<p>

Having a moment of peace he found the two ninja sitting in the gazebo outside, but he didn't bother them, but rather watched them appear trouble free in the sunshine as they spoke to one another, even though he knew just as well that things in the village were far from peaceful.

Lady Tsunade had sent a reply from Sai's earlier message from the previous day. She reinforced that Naruto was not to hurt anyone and that they needed to deal with him and that Sakura should have been more careful. With that she also mentioned about sending Kakashi and Yamato to aid them, but she stated that she would wait for their next reply until she sent them or not.

Sai and Sakura spoke of Toshio's plan, and it sounded like it may be a chaotic time in the village.  
>They sent a reply to Tsunade underlining that Sakura had in fact urged Naruto to feed off her blood to prevent him from starvation and Sakura noted defensively that Naruto didn't agree to take her blood, they told Tsunade of Naruto and Hinata's discussion several nights ago and they mentioned Toshio's plans and that Kakashi and Yamato were not needed for the time being as they would only direct unwanted attention and be at risk from directed shiki attacks if they were to come to the village.<p>

Sai painted another bird to deliver the message and they hoped it would be enough for Tsunade to give them more time to do what needed to be done to save the rest of the village.

* * *

><p>The sun was beginning to set and a festival was on in the main part of the village and despite the amount of death and threat of attacks from shiki during the night, most of the villagers were already at the festival and seemed happy with a night full of festivities.<p>

Toshio had supplied Sai with a more suitable outfit for the night – mainly a black top that covered his stomach, just for the night – and he gave Sakura one of his wife's festive kimonos that was purple in colour with a white leaf pattern with several pink flowers and a white waist band.  
>Sakura felt uncomfortable at first wearing Toshio's dead wife's clothing, but she soon forgot about that as her and Sai enjoyed the festival while they could as they knew what was to come after the sun had set.<p>

* * *

><p>The sun had set and Naruto was up already and had checked through the house, removing any and all traces of Sakura's and Sai's presence in Toshio's home, locking their presence away into their rooms and shutting the door behind him before returning to Toshio who knelt over the kitchen table, studying the paper covered surface.<br>He looked up to Naruto and was interrupted by a faint knocking on Toshio's curtained back door.  
>Toshio nodded to Naruto and he moved out of the room to the hallway that connected to their make shift rooms and waited.<p>

Toshio moved to the back door and opened it, not having to move the curtain to know who waited on the other side.  
>There, Chizuru stood with her dark eyes and long wavy blonde hair smiling to Toshio.<br>"Well, will you let me in?" she asked, still incapable of entering. Toshio didn't like the idea of letting _another_ shiki into his home but forced by the spell of her bite, he had no choice but to step aside and let her step into his home, closing the door lightly behind her.

"Oh, what a nice home" Chizuru commented, twirling in the lit living room, her dress, that was more suitable than any of her previous as it went down to her knees for a change. She wore a green, blue, purple, white and pink dress, each colour separated into its own blotch of colour with a black border and a white bow around her middle that matched her white heel shoes.  
>Chizuru turned with a hand on a hip and smiled to Toshio. She came closer, standing close to Toshio, not as tall as she was the night before.<br>She leaned in close to his ear as she spoke, holding a light hand to the other side of her face as she did.  
>"Burn the death certificates" she said and sat on the arm of the couch, crossing one leg over the other and watched Toshio move to the kitchen table, pick up one of his piles of paperwork and took them outside, dropping them on the stone pathway and setting them alight with his cigarette lighter, standing aside to watch the evidence he had of the deaths the shiki had caused in the village burn.<p>

Chizuru came up behind is and wrapped her arms around him, coming close to his ear.  
>"Now, down to business" she said with a sly giggle. Chizuru opened her mouth to sink into Toshio's neck but the halted when he spoke.<p>

"There is a festival, in the village today. The Kagura festival. Would you like to go?" he asked without turning.

Chizuru was the type of girl who liked to go out, to be treated, she couldn't resist.  
>"Oh, but the whole village is down there" replied Chizuru, surprisingly less confident and lessened her grip on Toshio.<p>

"But what is there to worry about?" asked Toshio, pulling away from her to face her.

"Oh no nothing, just haven't been to a festival here before" replied Chizuru, she smiled again, "will you escort me then?" she asked, and under her spell as he was he had no choice but to agree so he nodded to her and they left.

* * *

><p>Naruto moved out from hiding, dark and sinister looking in the dark. He left the house as it was, only putting out the burnt paperwork with his foot before leaving for the village.<p>

He headed in the direction away from the festival, where Sakura, Sai and Toshio were now at.

"N-Naruto" came Hinata's timid voice as she found him wandering the dark streets, away from the colourful lights of the festival on the near horizon.

"Hinata, I've come to join you" he said to her as he walked by, eager to get to where he was going and Hinata had to walk quickly to catch up.

"Join me?"

"Yes, you and the other shiki" he replied without looking to her as he continued to watch the path ahead.

"Yes, b-but why?" questioned Hinata, still struggling to keep up with Naruto's brisk pace.  
>But Naruto didn't answer. He just continued the watch the path ahead and Hinata got the picture.<p>

"Oh, well al-alright then" she replied and grabbed a hold of Naruto's hand with that strange new confidence that her death had brought her and lead him away.

* * *

><p>Toshio and Chizuru linked arms as they crossed the bridge over the river to be a part of the festivities. The festivities were held on religious ground so crossing the bridge was hard on Chizuru and she changed her mind on crossing the bridge saying that she wanted to leave , but Toshio tightened his hold on her, all the while looking innocent and not directing any unwanted attention form the other villagers.<p>

"What are you doing?" she said panicked, but Toshio remained silent, leading her further across the bridge.

"You will be fine," he encouraged, "once your there it will be fine" he smiled a friendly smile to the other villagers they passed who would say help to the doctor and smile to him in return, but really, he was smiling for himself and no one else.

"I said stop" hissed Chizuru, confused. She had bitten him which meant he had to do everything she told him too, but for some reason it was failing to work.

They crossed the bridge and Chizuru stiffened; now on religious ground, she didn't know how to deal with the situation.

"Just relax, see you're fine" he said softly to her.

"Why didn't you stop when I told you to?" she questioned furiously, but all the while keeping her voice low as she felt dangerously out of place.

Toshio didn't reply, instead pulled back his sleeve to reveal to her another shiki's fang marks.  
>Naruto's fang marks.<br>And she immediately knew it had been a trap from the beginning. That everything he had done when she had asked him to had just been an act. And she was scared.

Her mind was screaming to her from being on religious grounds for too long and she let out a panicked scream and stood away from the doctor, directing the attention of the curious and concerned villagers who closed in on her, seeing if she needed any help, but it only made her wail more.

Sakura and Sai who were among the group, pushed through and held the shiki woman on either side firmly as she kicked out her heels and wailed, the villagers taking a step back from shock and to avoid being kicked by her heeled shoes.

In her panic and desperation to be free she revealed her red eyes and fangs, trying to bite Sai and Sakura who held her, but she failed to reach, her fangs causing members of the crowd to gasp and step away further.

Toshio stepped forward in his white doctor's coat that he still wore from work.

"This woman, is no woman" he proclaimed to the group of villagers that had grown in size since it first formed.  
>"She is a shiki," the villagers mumbled to themselves, "a vampire" continued the doctor and pulled down his shirt collar to show the crowd the fang marks upon his neck, "and they are the cause of the deaths in our village" the crowd mumbled and stirred further.<p>

"I thought you said it was an epidemic?" called a voice from the crowd and the group hushed to hear Toshio's answer.

"I thought that to begin with, but I have seen the creatures with my own eyes. The feed on the blood on the living and when that person dies they awaken from death as one of the blood hungry monsters"  
>The crowd whispered among themselves again and gasped when Toshio pulled out a wooden stake and held it to the pleading woman's chest, above her heart.<p>

"He's going to kill her!" exclaimed a man lost in the crowd.

"I assure you, she is already dead. You may look for yourself" replied Toshio over the whispers of the crowd.

A man stepped forward and put a hand to the woman's chest, out of reach from her fangs as she tried to bite anything near.  
>His eyes opened wide when he felt no heart beat or breathing, only the cold of her body.<br>"He is right!" called the man to the rest of the crowd and several more villagers came to do the same, announcing to the rest of the crowd that the doctor was right.

Another man stepped forward.  
>"T-this woman, she lives in that big house doesn't she?" he asked to the doctor and he nodded to her.<br>"S-she is the one who killed my daughter then," his figure shook form a silent sob, "She took my Megumi away!" he exclaimed and reached for the wooden stake Toshio was holding.

Seeing that she was to be killed, Chizuru struggled harder and Sai lost his hold on her.  
>Chizuru reached out, grabbing the doctor's shoulder and pulled him towards her, reaching to bite him when Sakura tugged her back with her strong grip, and the woman fell backwards.<p>

The shiki woman went to get back up but Sakura and Sai were quick to hold her where she fell, her legs still kicking out frantically.  
>Megumi's father approached, pure grief and rage emanating from his features and he fell to his knees beside the restrained woman and held the stake above where her heart would be, looking back to the doctor for reassurance that he had the stake in the right place.<br>Another man, a largely built man wearing a stained white apron with a large amount of grey facial hair approached them, holding a hammer in his hands, offering to hit the stake.  
>And together both men drew the stake into the woman who gave one last cry out of pain before she lay motionless among the crowd of shocked villagers.<p> 


	17. Chapter 17: Bait

Everyone who had been standing by the now dead shiki woman, Chizuru, was decorated with blood splatter.  
>They observed the black eyed woman with her pointed fangs that lay behind her perfect human teeth, watching her horrific expression the stuck to her face from when she died.<p>

Behind them the crowd of villagers whispered in shock to one another that the blood covered people had just committed murder on religious ground which made that much worse.

Sakura sat back, blood splatters on half of her face and she struggled to breath.  
>She had killed people before in the name of defending her country, but this seemed low to her, having restrained the frightened woman as she was brutally murdered, and Sakura had been a part of it, which made her want to be sick.<br>She needed to remember that these people, no, shiki were already dead. They weren't human.

Sai, seeing Sakura's brief panic, came over and stood beside her, comforting her with his silence.

"These shiki are hurt by the sun and are killed by stopping the blood flow. Either the heart or the head" he declared to the crowd of shocked villagers.  
>"They plan to wipe us out. To make us like their own"<p>

"What do we do?" called out a male voice from the depth of the crowd

"We kill them before the kill us" declared the large man who had hammered the stake into the woman. He looked like a fierce, strong man.  
>The villagers whispered among themselves and Toshio exchanged a nod to the man who had spoken for him.<p>

"They are awake during the night, " continued Toshio, gaining everyone's' undivided attention, " So we attack them during the day, when they are sleeping"  
>"Those who wish to help stay, the rest of you can go home, but travel together for your own protection" finished Toshio.<p>

The villagers argued among themselves for a few minutes before small groups of people began to leave, a good two-thirds of the villagers remaining with Toshio, eager to help rid the village of the shiki.

Sai and Sakura stood behind Toshio as he told the men and woman – although most of the villagers who remained were men – what he knew about the shiki.  
>They planned to meet back where they were early in the morning to start their first raid in the village, while other men went throughout the village in groups, knocking on people's doors and telling them what had occurred and to either help them or stay in their homes.<p>

"The beginning of the end" commented Sai quietly as the men busted about and Sakura looked to him, knowing that his emotionless words held some meaning and truth that she dared not think about.

* * *

><p>"Tatsumi!" cried Hinata in shock as he held Naruto in the air by his throat and slammed him back against the wall again.<br>The blue were-wolf had beaten Naruto well considering they had only met a few minutes ago and the boy remained where he was dropped, sitting up watching Tatsumi intently with his black eyes.

Tatsumi knelt down to the boy's eye level.  
>"So you're Naruto. I've been looking for you. Where have you been?" he questioned with a sly smirk on his face.<p>

"Toshio, held me captive" replied Naruto with some effort.

"Captive?" pushed Tatsumi

"Yes, he had me strapped to a table and did experiments on me," it wasn't a complete lie, "He was trying to figure out how to kill a shiki" finished Naruto, briefly looking past Tatsumi to Hinata who stood among other shiki he didn't recognise, though she was the only one who was concerned for him.

"And did he?"

"I'm still here aren't I" replied Naruto with a deep glare.

Tatsumi put his hands on his sides and stood to his full height, still smirking to the boy, spitting down on him before turning to walk away with a twisted chuckle.

"He is planning to kill us" called out Naruto, demanding Tatsumi's attention again.  
>Tatsumi turned back around, now with his hands in his pockets, and watched Naruto stand back to his feet using the wall for support and wiping Tatsumi's spit of his cheek.<p>

"Oh and how does he plan to do that when he doesn't know how to kill us?" asked Tatsumi, looking to the boy grimly, who returned the same intense glare.

Naruto let out an amused humph, pushing Tatsumi's rage.  
>"Well," he began with a smirk of his own, "beheading always seems to work"<p>

Tatsumi's glare deepened and he snarled to the blonde boy, turning his back to continue out of the room deciding the boy wasn't worth his time.  
>With Tatsumi finally out of the room, Hinata approached Naruto asking if he was alright to which Naruto responded with a smile "I'm already dead"<p>

* * *

><p>Tatsumi, still enraged by the boy's pathetic display of thick headedness, headed towards his master's home in the large house that looked so out of place in the small village.<br>He couldn't take the boy's words lightly, after all he had been looking for him for a while and Toshio had been a thorn in their side since the beginning, but his master had stated that no one was to kill him yet, but if what the blonde boy had said was true, than he needed to be dealt with immediately.

Tatsumi entered a spacious luxurious room inside the large house. Seishin was there; having been taking captive a while ago although he never left after they announced that he could leave when he wished to.  
>He had been giving his blood to Tatsumi's master, Sunako Kirishiki, a young girl with long dark purple hair that matched the colour of the edges and waist band of her lighter purple dress and polished black buckle shoes.<br>She was daughter to Chizuru Kirishiki and their family lorded over the village's shiki, though they were generally kind, Sunako more than her mother as she refrained from killing anyone, instead leaving Tatsumi to keep the new shiki in line.

She sat on a red expensive looking couch beside Seishin, who had a drip in his arm to sustain him better between Sunako's feeds. They sat there, Sunako talking about something Seishin had written in one of his books. The girl had always enjoyed reading.

She paused the conversation when Tatsumi entered the room, looking not as bright as he usually did.

"Mother is dead" commented Sunako, looking to Tatsumi with her dark eyes and her smile fading with the news. Tatsumi never understood how Sunako knew what occurred throughout the village below without leaving, but he didn't comment on it.

"Sunako, " he began, bowing his head in respect, "I'm sorry to hear about your mother, but I have further news. Toshio seems to plan to kill us"  
>Sunako looked to Tatsumi for a long time, her friend and protector for so many years now.<p>

"How do you know this?" she asked sweetly tilting her head to the side a little.

"A boy told me. He had been held captive by Toshio and tested on in an attempt to discover a way to kill us"

Seishin knew who they were talking about. The boy form the Leaf village that Toshio had let die and come back as a shiki to test on.

"A boy" Sunako paused in thought, "My mother is dead so Toshio must have found a way to kill us already" her innocent appearance and voice made her words sound strange, Tatsumi never got use to it.  
>"I want to meet this boy" finished Sunako with a soft smile and Tatsumi nodded.<p>

"But first I must hide you. If something happens, the villagers will come here first" stated Tatsumi, turning and leading the young girl and Seishin down to their hidden basement that was bare besides for a couch, suitcase, small table and light.

Tatsumi bowed to her again and apologized for them having to hide before leaving to fetch the blonde shiki before dawn.

* * *

><p>Tatsumi took longer to reach where he had left the boy earlier, having been distracted observing the village.<br>The villages had burnt Chizuru's body, deciding better not risk her coming back from the dead again.  
>Men roamed the streets in packs, knocking on doors announcing a demon cleansing for the village.<p>

Tatsumi picked up his pace. The boy had known of Toshio's plans, it was possible that he knew more and Tatsumi would be more than happy to beat the boy for answers if needed.  
>He reached the abandoned house where several of the shiki stayed.<p>

"Where is he?" snarled Tatsumi to several of the shiki when he saw the boy was gone, but none of them knew which made him grit his teeth with frustration and he noticed that the other Leaf ninja girl was gone too, most likely having gone with the boy.

* * *

><p>"You're here" said Natsuno, relieved Hinata and Naruto had finally made it.<br>They were both dangerously sluggish as the sun was only an hour from rising and it wouldn't be long till they fall to the ground asleep, which would end horribly for them if they fell asleep in the open to burn in the sun.  
>They both nodded to the young were-wolf and he led the way back to his home where they could find shelter for the day.<p>

They had made it indoors just in time.  
>They were both at their limit of staying conscious and it wasn't long till they both fell to the ground, not to move again till night fall and Natsuno moved their motionless bodies back to his room so his father wouldn't find them.<br>The poor man had gone mad enough with his son's death, wife leaving and then his son's revival as a monster. He wouldn't handle another two dead people very well.


	18. Chapter 18: The Hunting

Sakura, Sai and Toshio had arrived home, the sun was beginning to rise and the closest thing they got to rest was a shot of pure caffeine to keep them going, ready for the big day ahead of them.

They ran through the mad house getting ready and getting changed back into their more comfortable ninja clothing and filled their bags with kunai, ready to pierce the hearts of the shiki.

Each of them took a moment aside; Toshio having a quick smoke in the new morning sunlight outside, Sakura washing the blood from her face and Sai sending another message to Tsunade stating that everything was going to plan.

"Looks like Naruto's gone" commented Sakura as she exited the hallway to find Sai sitting on the couch and Toshio standing close by, both ready to meet the villagers.  
>"Do you think he's alright?" continued Sakura quietly.<p>

"I'm sure he is fine. He's probably done his part already" replied Sai, standing up, ready to go.

They left for the religious ground where the festival was held the night before, having not been cleaned up due to everyone's' haste the night before.  
>Most of the remaining villagers were there, the only ones missing being those that didn't want to be a part of the village cleansing.<br>Many of the men wore frightful red masks over their faces, Toshio explaining to them that the masks warded against evil spirits and that they were a part of their tradition in the village.

The men had their own supplies of stakes already carved out for them and other men carried large wooden mallets or hammers to work more efficiently as pairs.  
>The women were to stay behind at the religious grounds to throw the bodies on a fire when the men returned with the dead shiki.<p>

Finally the men were split into groups, some were to guard the exits of the village to prevent any shiki escaping, others were to hunt though houses both vacant and occupied throughout the village while several groups of men were sent to go to the large house that sat above the village.

It was a long march to the large house, Sai and Sakura staying with Toshio as he travelled with the men to the front doors of the Kirishiki family's home.  
>No one came when the politely knocked, so instead they resorted to brute force, knocking the doors down as the men crawled through the large house in search for hiding bodies.<p>

"Check for secret hiding places!" called out Toshio to the men throughout the house, "And rip down the curtains!" he ordered so the shiki would have no place left to hide form the sunlight.

"Found one!" called one of the men nearby and Toshio, followed by Sai and Sakura went to investigate.  
>The men had pulled up a section of flooring and found a young man they knew in the village sleeping in the dark.<br>One of the men pulled him out, stepping back in shock as the sun caught the shiki's skin, causing it to blister and turn a horrible red as though the man's flesh was being burnt away. They all stood back as the shiki awoke from the pain of being in the sun, he screamed and writhed for a short while, his eyes burning and bursting in their sockets before the man finally lay silent, his body looking like it had been trapped in a severe blaze.

* * *

><p>"Are you sure you can do this?" Natsuno remembered Naruto asking him as they travelled back to his home, racing against the morning light.<p>

Natsuno knew he could do this; he was the only one who could.  
>Tatsumi was bound to find that he was hiding the two shiki sooner or later after Naruto had baited him with information on Toshio's activities.<br>And with the shiki trapped in an uncontrollable sleep, Natsuno and Tatsumi where the only ones capable of staying awake during the day and there was no doubt that Tatsumi would use that to his advantage.

Natsuno had spent the morning encouraging his dad to go with the other men to hunt the shiki and he could see that his father was torn between protecting his son or joining the men who would kill Natsuno if they were given the chance.

Natsuno had heard that Kaori and her younger brother Akira had left the village with another family that wanted to escape, having their parents been killed by Megumi personally.

The villagers were preparing for their great cleansing, closing off roads to the village, claiming it was a ritual that no outsiders could be a part of, which he knew was only a cover up but it did its job at keeping people away, not that many people ever came to their village to begin with.

The house to himself, his gear packed in his pockets and the blonde bait at his feet in his room. He was ready for Tatsumi.

* * *

><p>Seishin could hear the villagers scrambling through the large house above him.<br>He sat on the couch, still with the drip in his arm as Sunako; trapped in her uncontrollable sleep like all the other shiki, lay beside him on the couch with her head resting on his lap.

He heard the men above, cry out each time they found one of the hiding shiki or found another secret hiding place and he would hear the shiki scream as they were pulled into the sunlight and brutally put down.

He was weak in his condition but he had promised Tatsumi that he would protect Sunako, his friend.  
>Despite her appearances she was in fact many years older than Seishin and was very mature and wise for her age appearance, no doubt having too many years on her hands to occupy herself with.<p>

The men were tearing through the house, making a large amount of unnecessary noise as they did so. He thought to himself that it would only be a matter of time before they found the hidden entrance to the basement where they hid.  
>Seishin may not be killed as he was still human, but Sunako would surely share the same end as the others.<p>

All he could do was wait.

* * *

><p>The sun was only a couple hours from setting and many of the villagers had returned to the religious ground, not sure of what to do next.<p>

The place stunk of burning flesh as the bodies of the shiki were brought to the religious ground in carts to be burnt and while the men were splattered with blood, the woman were decorated with the ashes.  
>The village didn't only resemble chaos, but also smelt of it now too.<p>

Toshio, Sakura and Sai had all returned to the meeting place also and when enough people were there they began to question Toshio with what they should do next.

"We can't possibly continue throughout the night. They could kill us" stated one of the many blood covered men.

"But if we don't they could still get us in our sleep" commented another.

"No, they can only enter a home with permission" responded Toshio, "It's the man, Tatsumi, that you need to be aware of. He can enter homes without permission"  
>The villagers mumbled among themselves for a quick moment.<p>

"I say we stay and continue throughout the night" stated the large man that had helped kill Chizuru.

"But surely you are all tired" commented a woman from amongst the crowd.

The large man gave out a grunt as if to argue with the woman before Toshio stepped in.  
>"Some of you can leave for home if you wish and rest. Those who stay should continue hunting the shiki. They will move during the night so that we will have to re-search the areas we have already searched"<br>Many of the villages nodded and mumbled in agreement. If they didn't keep their vigilance up, they would have to work twice as hard the next day and many shiki would surely escape.

* * *

><p>Naruto stirred, siting up in Natsuno's room.<br>Hinata was already awake and sat with her hands on her lap, waiting for Naruto to wake.

"About time" commented Natsuno with an annoyed tone.

"T-Tatsumi" started Naruto, still clumsy from sleep.

"He never came" responded Natsuno, looking over to the far wall of his bedroom.

Naruto got to his feet, Hinata mirroring his movements.  
>"And the village?"<p>

"They are continuing with the hunt overnight" replied Natsuno, getting to his feet also from where he had sat on the edge of his bed.

Natsuno and Naruto exchanged a long glance, knowing that Tatsumi would show himself sooner or later.  
>Naruto turned to face Hinata, stepping closer and making eye contact with her.<br>"Hinata, you should leave"

"What, b-but why?" stammered Hinata, shocked.

"Tatsumi will come here sooner or later. You should leave or he may hurt you" stated Naruto, concerned for his friend's wellbeing.

"N-Naruto, I'll be fine" stammered Hinata, wanting to stay. She didn't want to risk losing Naruto, whether it was to Tatsumi or the villagers.

Naruto knew it would be dangerous for Hinata to be around outside with the villager's still on the hunt, but she had a chance outside, rather than against Tatsumi if he decided to turn on her.  
>He would have wanted to stay with her or at the least go with her till she found a hiding place, but he was the bait for Tatsumi, without Naruto the plan would fail.<p>

Naruto exchanged another look with Natsuno.  
>"Hinata," he started again, lowering himself till he was at her eye level and she fidgeted with her fingers uncomfortably, "I will go with you, but I can't stay with you. And I will come back for you when my job is done" he said to her calmly.<p>

"B-but, what about Natsuno, h-he needs to stay w-with you" commented Hinata, knowing the plan wouldn't work unless Naruto and Natsuno stayed together.

The boys exchanged looks again and Natsuno nodded to Naruto in silent agreement.  
>"Natsuno will come with me" finished Naruto, still at eye level with Hinata.<p>

She fidgeted with her fingers for a moment more and looked around the room, avoiding Naruto's matching black eyes, before looking away to the side and giving a nod in agreement and he responded to her nod with a small sad smile.


	19. Chapter 19: Running

The men of the village had discovered another unoccupied building further out of town full of shiki.  
>Even though it was during the night they had stayed indoors as though they knew the men were searching for them and believed they would be safer hiding indoors.<p>

Toshio was standing by, having just put another shiki down. He stood and took a moment to light a smoke and observe the chaos around him.  
>He was surprised that the shiki hadn't attacked to defend themselves, in fact they only tried to escape which was a useless attempt and some shiki that had yet to go mad with blood lust, sat quietly as the men approached them with wooden stakes.<p>

Toshio inspected the bodies that the men pulled out of the building, mentally noting each of the villagers' identities and matching them with his death certificates and surprisingly there were a lot of shiki that had not been reported dead.  
>Toshio let out a breath of smoke, glad that he had thought ahead and gotten the two leaf ninja to re-write false copies of the original death certificates so he still contained the evidence of the deaths in the village after the false copies were burnt.<p>

He let out a sad sigh when he saw Ritsuko's body being pulled out of the building bedside Toruru, both holding hands with stakes through their chest, although they both looked peaceful, being two of the few shiki that smiled upon their deaths.

Toshio had noticed Ritsuko missing from work for the most part of the week and had assumed that she had been taken, but seeing an employee of his still ached inside.

But he needed to stay focused and not let his emotions control him.  
>He needed to remain cool and collective as there were still plenty more shiki left to deal with.<p>

* * *

><p>Sakura and Sai stuck together.<br>It was before midnight still in the village and they were yet to find Naruto. They had gone to Natsuno's house like the two shiki boys had planned, but neither of them was there.

It was a terrible job they needed to do.  
>By now Naruto would have done his part of the plan in baiting Tatsumi and unfortunately he had no more use.<br>It sounded horrible, but Naruto knew that as a shiki, he too needed to die in order to rid the village completely, and he had said so himself. Though Sai and Sakura had talked about it and felt that it was only right that they were the ones to deal with one of their own, Hinata included.  
>They knew both Hinata and Naruto would understand their reasoning as they both had been willing to make sacrifices to stop the shiki from spreading.<br>Naruto had at first starved himself of blood to prevent hurting anyone and now had used himself as bait to draw out the were-wolf Tatsumi and Hinata had done what she could to not hurt anyone, having Naruto agree to him being her only food source.

Both of them had done what they could under the circumstances, but they knew what had to be done next.

Sai and Sakura, having moved away from the other groups of villagers as they moved faster and quieter on their own, stalked through the darker parts of the village past Natsuno's house in search for Naruto and Hinata.

They needed, no, wanted to find them before another villager came across them.

* * *

><p>The three of them had been moving stealthily through the darker part of the village for a while now, sticking close to the tree line so they could duck for cover and hide easier if a group of hunting villagers came by, or another shiki that would tell Tatsumi where they were before they got Hinata somewhere safer.<p>

They could smell the spilt blood from the other end of the village and knew that the hunt was going well for the humans.

Hinata halted, waiting for the two boys to stop and face her in question.  
>"I have an idea" she stated, looking to them both confidently, "Instead of hiding, why don't I meet the villagers"<p>

"Are you mad?" cried Naruto, shocked, in a hushed voice to Hinata. Natsuno standing by with his dark patterned hoodie and bright red shoes.

"They will follow me," she hurried to continue, seeing that Naruto was about to interrupt her again, "a-and I could lead them to the buildings with the other shiki" finished Hinata, looking to the boys nervously.

Naruto closed his open jaw and looked to Hinata curiously, Natsuno speaking while Naruto remained stunned.  
>"Sounds like a good plan" he said with his hands in his pockets, looking to Naruto.<p>

Hinata nodded to the boys before turning to leave towards the main part of the village before Naruto could even speak a word.  
>With Hinata gone, Naruto turned on his heel to Natsuno.<br>"What did you do that for?" he asked with a complicated expression of confusion and slight anger mixed with shock.

"Do what?" shrugged Natsuno before turning around to head back to his home, seeing as there was no longer any point of heading in their original direction now that Hinata had decided she wanted to help rather than hide away.  
>Naruto stood where he was for a moment, crossing his arms and pouting to the young were-wolf's back before going to take a step after him.<p>

"There you are" came a satisfied voice from behind Naruto and he instantly froze from Tatsumi's words.

Natsuno immediately turned when he heard Tatsumi's voice, turning in time to see Tatsumi grab Naruto hard on his shoulder with his were-wolf strength, tightening his grip on Naruto's shoulder till a horrible crunch escaped his joint and he let out a cry of pain.

* * *

><p>A cry filled the quiet street and Sai and Sakura exchanged warned glances before heading towards the site of the cry, worried that a villager may have been attacked by a shiki.<p>

They both slowed behind an unlit house, pressing against the building and creeping closer to peer around the side.

Behind the building was only grass with the approaching tree line to the woods behind it.  
>Before the tree line were two people, a boy and a man, both with glowing red eyes that was fuelled by anger towards one another as the continued to snarl.<p>

Sakura tuned back around to face Sai who hadn't had the room to see what was going on behind the building himself.  
>"It's Tatsumi and Natsuno" she reported back to him quietly so the were-wolves wouldn't hear their presence.<br>Sai nodded to her, but could tell from her expression that Naruto wasn't present behind the house with the two were-wolves, his job having been completed by drawing Tatsumi to Natsuno.

* * *

><p>Natsuno reached into his pockets and pulled out several shuriken Naruto had given him and threw them towards the blue were-wolf just as Naruto and Hinata had showed him too, though his aim wasn't as perfect as theirs and the small shuriken only managed to lightly wound Tatsumi, not cutting deep enough to give Natsuno any advantage.<p>

He was the only one that would stand a chance against the enemy were-wolf.  
>The only one that could eliminate him before he could regroup the shiki and plan something against the surviving villagers.<br>Naruto had wanted to do it himself, but without his chakra, he only had his fists, which didn't do much damage against a shiki, yet alone on a were-wolf.

"Bastard!" Tatsumi snarled to Natsuno, running towards him, Natsuno pulling out a kunai as he approached.

* * *

><p>Seishin and Sunako sat on the cold benches of the abandoned church that lay among the trees. It was hard for Sunako to be in a religious place but she didn't complain as it was safer than their previous death trap in the Kirishiki house, where it would only be a matter of time.<p>

Seishin had packed the suitcase that was in the basement with food and water for him to help sustain himself if Sunako wanted to feed, but she sat quietly on the cold concrete bench of the abandoned church, swinging her feet that failed to reach the floor and observed the decorative stained glass windows of the church, often commenting on the images they held.

Sunako looked to one of the stained glass windows that was one of the many that lined the walls.  
>"Why do they make art of such pictures?" she asked, tilting her head to the side as though trying to see the picture in the window better.<p>

Seishin looked to the window, seeing which one she was talking about.  
>It was an image of a dark demon the lay on the ground as men stood over its body, cutting it open and releasing streams of bright colours that resembled a rainbow.<p>

"It depicts peace coming from the death of a demon" he stated, straightening his low glasses and looked from the window to the girl.

"Oh, I bet this place looks beautiful when the sun comes through the windows. Colours everywhere" Sunako commented excitedly, knowing that she could never see what she imagined in her mind.  
>Seishin nodded and smiled to her as she continued to observe the old buildings windows, imaging what the day looked like form inside the church and he struggled to picture whether it was the shiki or the humans that resembled the demon dying in the stained glass window.<p>

* * *

><p>Naruto held his hand tightly over his shattered shoulder, blood running down his limp arm and staining his jacket.<br>The blood loss wasn't an issue; it was the pain that bothered him and not the pain of the wound, but the pain of his bones repairing themselves in his shiki body.

He had slipped into the forest after Natsuno had distracted Tatsumi long enough for Naruto to move away. His job was done. He had led Tatsumi to the only person who had a chance of killing him, Natsuno.

Naruto stopped by a tree, leaning against it and clenching his jaw as his bones shifted beneath his hand, repairing itself.  
>He paused, smelling someone close before his ears and eyes picked up anything.<br>Someone had followed him into the woods. A human.

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** alright so this is the end of the second last chapter, that's right only one more to go...how exciting :D and sorry about all the breaks in the story from jumping from one charcter's sitiuation to another but their is a lot to cover from the shiki anime and even more with the inclusion of the naruto characters. should hopefully have the finally chapter up in the next few days.  
>Hope you have been enjoying this story, though if you've read it this far then i guess it must be interesting :)<br>please r&r


	20. Chapter 20: Bleed Out

**A/N:** YES! Finally finished the final chapter and it feels great to finish with the 20th chapter. Sorry about the length of this chapter, but there is just soooo much that needed to be fitted in. Hope you all enjoy. I also apologize for the insane amout of page breaks/pragraph sepraters or what ever they are called...there is just sooooo much to fit in :P

* * *

><p>It was midnight and Sakura walked deeper into the forest. She had guessed Naruto had gone that way, but if she found him it was either because he wanted to be found or that she just got lucky.<br>The woods were huge and surrounded the entire village besides where the road in and out of the village was.

She had left Sai behind to sneak by the two fighting were-wolves in search for Naruto; Sai leaving the other way in search of Hinata.  
>She needed to end it. It was only right and he knew it had to be done.<p>

She crept through the forest silently knowing just as well that she could walk into any of the shiki rather than Naruto.

Sakura heard movement and froze, pulling a kunai out before her.

Naruto stepped out from behind a tree, looking dark and sad in the darkness of the woods before her. He was a good three meters before her, the moonlight being the only source of light to show his face.

Sakura pulled the kunai higher in a defensive position, ready to strike Naruto.  
>To finish him off.<br>To save him from his pain.

She froze for a moment, seeing the glowing red irises appear in Naruto's eyes as he continued to watch her from where he stood.  
>This was bad.<br>The only time she had ever seen Naruto's eyes glow red was before he attacked Hinata or fed on Sakura's blood or thought of it.  
>He took a tentative step closer, never removing his frightful eyes form her.<br>Another step.

'This is it' she thought to herself as her heart raced with the thought of killing her closest friend, 'It's me or him'

He was so close to her now, His red eyes still glued to her in a sad expression that she didn't completely understand.

She lunged forward with the Kunai, but Naruto caught her fist before she reached him, holding her like that for a brief moment, before applying enough inhuman pressure to cause her to drop the kunai.

'Shit, this is it. He's lost control. He's one of them' she panicked.  
>She was scared and wished Naruto was with her. The real, alive Naruto, but the only Naruto present was the one before her, holding her fist tightly, with a bloodied shoulder and staring down to her with his demonic eyes.<br>'Naruto is going to kill me' she thought, seeing Naruto's body prepare for a quick movement and she dared to close her eyes for a moment, preparing to feel Naruto's fangs sink into her neck.

Sakura opened her eyes when she felt Naruto release her fist, instead quickly dropping down to pick up her kunai he had forced her to drop and moving back a couple meters, his eyes returning to their black state so that his eyes looked hollow in the dim light.  
>He stood there for another moment, both of them staring silently to one another in the night.<br>Sakura recovered and pulled out another kunai, holding it before her again, putting on a braver, fiercer face.

"Naruto, please let me end this" she pleaded to him, not lowering her guard. But he remained silent, watching Sakura unblinking.

"I guess, Sakura, this will be the last time we see each other" he replied, a small sad smile appearing on his face and he turned to leave, quickly vanishing deeper into the dark woods, before Sakura could speak.

* * *

><p>Toshio stood before the mound of shiki corpses as they were lit by the women of the village who would then dispose of the bodies down a naturally formed hole in the earth, not far from the edge of the woods that they used as a mass grave for all the burnt shiki corpses.<p>

The air smelt of burning flesh and would have made anyone be sick, but they had a job to do.  
>The stench clung to his clothing and followed him even when he escaped to the indoors, but he dealt with it for the time, instead focusing his efforts on helping the men to find the remaining shiki.<p>

Not long ago, Megumi's father had deposited a corpse, wrapped in a white sheet like all the others, but this shiki corpse had caused him enough grief to cry.  
>Megumi.<br>She had attempted to escape the village, but was quickly found and dealt with, like many other shiki who had attempted the same.  
>They couldn't risk any shiki escaping to the outside world or the whole mess would only start again elsewhere.<p>

Toshio took one last drag of his smoke before letting it fall from his lips and crushing it beneath his shoe to extinguish it.

"Toshio" called one of the men from afar, signalling that they were ready to leave for another raid on a shiki hideout.  
>Toshio put his hand in his now, not-so-white doctors' coat, and left in the direction of the awaiting men.<p>

* * *

><p>So far everything as going to plan.<br>Hinata had successfully 'accidently' encountered two groups of hunting men and successfully led them directly to a shiki hideout where the men had become to occupied with killing the other shiki to remember Hinata.  
>She disappeared into the darkness between houses and waited for an opportunity to leave.<br>It was hard not having chakra anymore after having it all her life. Running wasn't the real problem but rather the fact that she could only run as far and as fast as those chasing her and she was surprise how much energy it demanded without the aid of chakra.

Having rested quickly she left the area as her pursuers remained occupied with the slaughter of the hiding shiki. She left at a jogging pace till she was out of the houses and walked back along the path, rather having the humans find her instead of her using the effort to hunt them down among the chaos.  
>She walked with her head down, confident that her shiki senses would notice the presence of others before her eyes did, especially seeing as she was hungry.<br>God, she couldn't remember the last time she had any blood.  
>Probably back when Naruto was still alive that time in the hospital, the last time he was alive, but, no, Tatsumi had given her a chance to feed and she hadn't liked the idea of it but….<p>

The smell of smoke pierced her thoughts and she looked up, turning to face the other side of the village. A fire was spreading through part of the village and even quicker through the trees.

'Naruto!'

* * *

><p>"Fire!" cried a man as he raced towards Toshio and the group of hunting men he was with. They all turned to face the man as he struggled for breath as he spoke.<br>"Toshio, fire…." He stopped for breath and Toshio looked past him to where black smoke filled the night, barely there to see unless you were searching for it.  
>None of them were at a well enough of a vantage point to see any sign of flames but the puffing man assured them that it was a large fire and was spreading quickly.<p>

Toshio turned back to the group of men he was with.  
>"The fire will cause neighbouring villages to act," he stopped and turned to speak to several of the men, "Go back to the women and help them discard the bodies quicker" he turned to another selection of men, "you lot, continue hunting the shiki, the rest of you are to help control the fire" he finished and all of the men split into their smaller groups and went to leave.<br>Toshio turned back to the men leaving to fight the fire, "And have others help you if you meet them on the way. And find the other hunting parties!" he called to them and they waved back in acknowledgment and he turned back to face the men he was left with, nodding to them as he left with them to continue hunting the shiki.

* * *

><p>Natsuno jumped back as Tatsumi swiped at him with a clawed hand. Tatsumi was relentless and much more experienced at fighting as a were-wolf, being able to change the form of his nails to claws without changing his whole form. He came at Natsuno again, but he dodged it and created distance between them both again by striding backwards.<br>Unlike Tatsumi, Natsuno had no experience with fighting and only had the kunai Naruto and Hinata had given him and fighting tips, such as keeping distance and waiting for an opening.  
>And so Natsuno did. He watched Tatsumi's movements trying to find an opening or habit of Tatsumi's that would give Natsuno a chance to strike back, not that a kunai would do much damage as the shiki's body healed itself almost instantly.<br>Natsuno only had one shot, one attack. He needed to strike fast and hard, either stabbing his heart or taking off his head.

Tatsumi continued to strike forward, forcing Natsuno to focus more on dodging than looking for an opening or weakness. Every movement Tatsumi made forward, Natsuno would move back.

'Gah, this isn't working' cursed Natsuno to himself, baring his teeth when Tatsumi's claw cut to close and scratched his cheek.  
>'Time for plan B'<p>

Natsuno turned away from Tatsumi, confusing the blue were-wolf for a brief moment and Natsuno left in the other direction, running behind the houses beside the tree line.  
>Tatsumi hesitated; his original plan was to go after the blonde headed brat form the Leaf village that had escaped thanks to Natsuno, but he was focused on eliminating Natsuno too now, the second brat, so he snarled to himself and headed off after Natsuno.<p>

Natsuno was ahead and kept his pace. He crossed through the trees, the space between the trees was filling with dark smoke that made it difficult to see, but the were-wolf in Natsuno created a clear image of his path for him and he had the advantage; he had lived in the village longer that Tatsumi.

The smoke grew thicker and it would have been hard for any living person to breathe so again, being dead had its advantages. Natsuno could feel the heat now, coming in waves from the red glow he could see through the smoke.

With several more strides he crossed through the band of fire, the tall wall of flames signing the ends of his hair and clothing but he pushed forward, not paying it any attention. The roar of the flames drowned out the heavy steps of Tatsumi behind and Natsuno dared not to look back to see how far back or close he was to him.  
>Several more stride before Tatsumi's hand came down on Natsuno's shoulder and threw him back past Tatsumi and into the flames behind.<br>Natsuno got back to his feet quickly, ignoring the lapping flames as Tatsumi walked towards him looking furious. He came closer to Natsuno and grabbed a hold on his shoulder tightly, just as he had with Naruto earlier in the night, and squeezed tightly, pushing his pointed claw like nails deeper into his flesh and he could hear his own bones being crushed before he registered the pain of it.

This was it, the opening he had been waiting for.  
>Tatsumi was blinded with his rage and his enjoyment of crushing Natsuno's shoulder.<br>Natsuno reached into a pocket and pulled out a kunai, taking one quick stab towards Tatsumi's heart, but didn't make it deep enough to do any real damage.  
>Tatsumi released Natsuno to pull out the kunai that stuck out from his chest, almost letting out a roar as he did so. Natsuno took the opportunity to duck past Tatsumi and continued running through the flames hearing Tatsumi swear after him; his bones starting to heal themselves already.<br>It wasn't long till Tatsumi was chasing through the flames after him again, but it didn't matter. He was so close to where he was heading, so close now.

Tatsumi called out to him again but his words were distorted by the roar of the surrounding fire.  
>'Just up ahead' thought Natsuno to himself, trying to force himself forward faster.<br>Natsuno reached his destination and stopped, turning to face Tatsumi from where he stood.

Tatsumi slowed to a stop a meter from Natsuno and they glared to one another surrounded by the lapping flames.  
>Tatsumi's mouth moved as he spoke, but he was too quiet to be heard over the flames. Then he charged, coming right at Natsuno. He braced himself for the right moment, waiting till Tatsumi was close enough.<br>When Tatsumi reached him, with his fist held forward, Natsuno didn't dodge him or counter, he just stood there taking deep calming breaths ready for what he was about to do.

He grabbed a hold of Tatsumi's fist with his own hand, holding him close. When Tatsumi brought his other fist around in a wild swing Natsuno ducked under it and moved to swap positions with Tatsumi. They both exchanged a quick snarl to one another before Natsuno released Tatsumi for the slightest of moment took a step back and threw himself into Tatsumi, forcing them both backwards into the empty expanse in the ground.

Their fall wall cushioned by the many charred remains of the hunted shiki, the area having been evacuated and the rest of the shiki bodies deposited into the large natural forming hole in the earth before the fire had consumed the area.

Both were-wolves were already back to their feet, standing silently as Tatsumi looked up to see the red glow of the fire high above. He returned his gaze back to Natsuno, but surprisingly he didn't look furious or angry about being forced down a deep hole, but Natsuno was sure he was furious behind his sly smile.  
>"So kid, just you and me now" he said, crossing his arms smugly.<p>

Natsuno made a move and Tatsumi lunged at him, but stopped when he saw what Natsuno was holding.  
>A bomb.<br>Tatsumi gave another sly smile, thinking he knew Natsuno better.  
>"As if you would kill yourself, and for what, me?" he laughed at the smaller purple haired were-wolf.<p>

Natsuno pulled the pin of the bomb and returned his own smug smile to Tatsumi, enjoying the blue were-wolfs expression when he realised it was the end for them both.

* * *

><p>The fire was getting out of control. The men and woman of the village had to leave the area, evacuate why the route in and out to the village was still clear.<br>"This way"  
>"C'mon" called several of the men that had been hunting the shiki earlier. They were directing the way out of the village.<p>

Sai had been running along the roof tops, having had no luck in finding Hinata, even with many of his painted rats traveling through the village, but still no luck.  
>He spotted the villagers leaving, walking quickly and orderly down the main road and out of the village.<br>He spotted Toshio, one of the few men who stood by the side of the road, and encouraged the villagers out. He dropped down from the roof top and landed beside Toshio, who didn't react, as though having a ninja land down beside him was something he was used to by now.

"The fire is too dangerous" stated Toshio, not bothering to wait for Sai to ask, "We are evacuating the villagers" he exhaled a lung full of smoke before turning to face Sai who looked as emotionless as ever.

"Where is Sakura?" asked Sai without any hints of emotion present though Toshio could tell he was worried.

"I haven't seen her" replied Toshio, expressing his own concern and inhaled more of his smoke.

Sai turned to look back in the direction of the spreading fire for a long moment. He then turned back to face Toshio again. They locked eyes for a moment and Toshio nodded to him slightly in understanding, Sai returned the nod before leaping back to the roof tops and heading towards the spreading fire that brightened the night.

* * *

><p>Hinata hadn't stopped running. The smoke would give anyone trouble breathing, but it didn't bother her; the only thing it affected was her vision as the smoke was difficult to see through, though her shiki instincts helped guide her.<br>She had to find Naruto. She stopped to listen over the raging fire every now and again, or to call out his name, but she never got a reply.  
>The tongues of flames would often burn her skin but she took no notice of it as her skin healed almost instantly.<br>"Naruto!" she called out again through the flames.  
>The fire had spread form the trees and had consumed half the village already.<br>It was possible that Naruto had already left or possibly even died, but if he was to leave he would have looked for her, surely?

"Naruto!" she called out again, cupping her hands around her mouth to project her voice better.  
>But again, only the flames responded to her call. She was close to giving up and she was tired, not exhausted, but the tired that was brought on by the approaching sun.<br>She fell to her knees and stared at the ground, tears rolling off her cheeks from desperation. She wanted to find Naruto. She needed to.

A crunch from a charred branch caught her attention and she looked up to see Naruto approaching her through a curtain of flames.  
>He looked over to her from where he stood, several meters before her, his clothing singed and burnt in patches where the fires had reached him, Hinata had no doubt that her own clothing looked the same.<p>

He didn't smile to her but he looked sad, like he was thinking about something that he didn't wish to.  
>Hinata got back up to her feet, her tears having stopped now to see that Naruto was fine and she had nothing to fear.<p>

* * *

><p>The flames were hot and the smoke was making breathing more difficult the further she went in. Sakura had been trying to follow Naruto, heading in the direction she had last seen him moving in.<br>She wished they had agreed for Kakashi and Yamato to help them. Kakashi's hounds and his sense of smell would be helpful trying to track down Naruto, but then again, the smoke would have made their noses hopeless.  
>Sakura feared she had ventured into the smoke too far and the fire continued to spread, only making her task of escaping the flames more of a challenge, but it she kept moving against the flames then it would die down at a faster rate, hopefully.<br>She was still in the woods, as far as she could tell, but had lost her sense of direction through the smoke several times and now wasn't sure of whether she was close to the village or not.  
>She decided a change of plans. Sakura leapt into the tree branches above, deciding which branches to put weight on carefully, picking only the least burnt and sturdiest looking of branches to move across.<br>Her vantage point was better in the trees, but there were times where heat from the flames below caused her to move away quickly or patches of smoke would almost blind and suffocate her.  
>But Sakura continued on, pinpointing her original direction and continuing on her way, only stopping in her travelling when she spotted two figures among the flames.<p>

* * *

><p>The sun would rise in only a few hours' time and both Hinata and Naruto were tired, though Naruto refused to let it show on his features as he stood several meters before her, both of them surrounded by the flickering flames from the fire.<p>

Naruto took a step forward towards Hinata, still looking as though he was deep in thought.  
>He stopped before her, looking her in her black eyes with his own, his eyes showing sadness in his thoughts.<p>

"N-Naruto?" started Hinata, but she left it as that when Naruto pulled out a kunai and held it between them.  
>Hinata looked down to the kunai then back up to Naruto who remained staring to her sadly.<br>She took a step back, shaking her head to Naruto, knowing what he was implying.

He had always been a person of his word.  
>He remained where he was, still holding the kunai out towards her.<br>Hinata only wanted to shy away, but she knew he was right. The shiki were all gone besides them both and their hunger would only cause harm to the living around them, creating more shiki.

She stepped closer to Naruto, till the kunai in his outstretched arm pressed against her chest.  
>Hinata stared at the burnt ground and lifted a hand to direct the kunai to position with her heart.<br>They both remained silent, Naruto looking sadder now and he waited for Hinata to look to him. She lifted her head slowly, tears streaming down her face and mumbled some words that were only clear for Naruto to hear.  
>He smiled to her softly at her words and wrapped an arm around her back to pull her into a hug, keeping the kunai pointed to her chest, though pulling his hand back so not to stab her in the hug.<p>

Naruto sat his chin on her shoulder, bending a little to do so and spoke softly, the threat of tears clear in his shaky, yet still confident voice.  
>"I know" he said still smiling softly and Hinata wept harder, burying her face into Naruto's collar bone and Naruto did what needed to be done.<p>

In one horrid upward movement of his hand, the kunai pierced Hinata's chest without enough of a warning for her to react.  
>Naruto felt the hot blood from the wound running down his fingers and he released his grip on the kunai , leaving it in Hinata's heart and wrapped both his arms tightly around her, feeling her body relax in his arms and he lowered himself to the ground, silent tears escaping his black eyes as he released her slowly to lay her on the burnt ground, seeing the blood he had caused and his own bloodied hand print on her clothing. He removed the kunai from Hinata's chest and stood up straight, looking down to her sadly, no longer able to conjure a smile of any kind from the sight of her body.<p>

Naruto looked down to the bloodied kunai in his matching bloodied hand. He heard something above that sounded different to the surrounding flames that were dying away like his own soul.  
>He looked up to a tree close by that still stood after the fire and he saw a familiar pink haired silhouette looking down to him, trying to find reasoning for the sight she was seeing.<p>

Naruto smiled up to her softly and sadly, tears still streaming down his face like miniature waterfalls. He raised to kunai higher against his body, positioning it over his heart as he continued to look up to Sakura in the tree.  
>"Naruto, don't!" cried Sakura, but she was too late, too far to reach him in time.<p>

Naruto turned back to face Hinata on the burnt earth and in one swift absent movement he forced the kunai into his own heart, too quick to feel any pain. He fell to his knees before falling the rest of the distance to the ground, close to Hinata, seeing her peaceful face in his last moment of consciousness.

Sakura reached the ground only after Naruto had. She ran to her closest friend and shook him to wake him, calling out that he was an idiot for not waking when she demanded it of him.  
>After a minute or two Sakura realised it was hopeless.<br>She was capable of healing someone, but not bringing them back from death.

She looked to Hinata, who looked peaceful with her eyes already closed then looked back to Naruto's body. His eyes were still open and Sakura started to cry when she saw that his death had returned his blue eyes to him.  
>She was happy and knew that Naruto was, in a way, happy too.<br>He hated what he had become and he was willing from the beginning to end his own life to end his misery of being a monster and Sakura was just happy to see those blue eyes she had missed so much.  
>She closed Naruto's eyes and then he looked peaceful like Hinata did.<br>She smiled again, despite her tears and knelt by their bodies, both her friends facing one another in their eternal peaceful slumber.

Sakura heard light footsteps land behind her and she stood to turn and face Sai who observed the bodies of their friends before looking to Sakura.  
>Without a word, Sai walked past Sakura and knelt down to pick up Naruto's body. Sai then started to walk back the way to the village with Naruto. Sakura watched Sai vanish further into the smoke filled forest and burnt trees, the surrounding fire almost gone, and Sakura turned to lift Hinata's body to follow after Sai.<p>

* * *

><p>It was sunrise by the time Sai and Sakura reached Toshio and the villagers again.<br>Toshio had led the villagers further down the main road and now sat halfway between their own village and the neighbouring one, having stopped for a rest.  
>They were all surprised that Hinata and Naruto's body hadn't burnt under the sunlight, but it was clear that death had returned them to their original, non-shiki, bodies.<p>

The two Leaf ninja walked the way to the neighbouring village with the villagers, taking the time to send a final report forward to Tsunade, before saying farewell to the villagers they knew and to Toshio before they left towards their own home village with Naruto and Hinata.

* * *

><p>Out of the burnt ruins of the village emerged Seishin, carrying a large briefcase. He was limping, having injured himself on his journey down from the abounded church that Sunako enjoyed so much. He looked around the abandoned village for anyone before deciding it was clear and left further down the road, carrying little Sunako sleeping in his briefcase.<p>

**A/N: ** Again, sorry about the length of this chapter and about the last paragraph of this chapter with Seishin and Sunako, I know it may seem odd and out of place or what not but that is what occurs in the end of the shiki anime, so just following the shiki storyline (sorry if that spoils anything) and I apologize for any OOC-ness.  
>Hope you enjoyed!<p> 


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